Benefits of Companion Pets
How Pets Help Mesothelioma Patients Cope
In the 1800s, Florence Nightingale wrote that a pet "is often an excellent companion for the sick." Today, researchers and medical professionals agree that animals play a valuable role in comforting humans who are suffering from stress or a serious illness, such as mesothelioma. A number of studies over the past 25 years have focused on the healthful benefits of pets:
- Visits with a therapy dog helped heart and lung function by lowering blood pressure, diminishing release of harmful hormones and decreasing anxiety in hospitalized heart failure patients.
- Animal-assisted therapy can reduce the loneliness of patients in long-term care facilities.
- In a study of 100 Medicare patients, seniors who owned dogs had 21% fewer doctor visits than those who did not.
- Average medication costs per patient per day dropped 68.9% in new nursing homes that had animals and plants as an integral part of the environment.
- Researchers at Sloan-Kettering Memorial Cancer Center in New York found that companion animals, especially cats and dogs, had a beneficial impact on adult caregivers while caring for a spouse who had cancer.
- A clinical nursing observation on the therapeutic value of pets for patients with Alzheimer's disease suggests that pets help alleviate loneliness and emotional isolation and increase communication, social interaction, and sensory stimulation.
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Sometimes, chronically or terminally ill patients must give up their own pets because they are unable to care for them any longer. In cases such as these, animal-assisted therapy (AAT) can help to improve the quality of life for mesothelioma patients as well as their grieving family members and friends.
While most people are familiar with dogs that assist the blind, therapy animals offer a different kind of help. Some visit patients informally to boost their spirits, while others work in a more structured environment with trained professionals and specific treatment goals. In both cases, AAT provides a means for the seriously ill and those who love them to enjoy the comfort that comes from the unconditional love of an animal. Many animal therapy volunteers relate countless stories of patients who have found peace in their suffering by touching and snuggling with an affectionate animal.
If you are suffering from a serious illness like mesothelioma, or if you are caring for someone who is, you may find comfort in animal-assisted therapy. To learn more and find therapy animal programs in your area, visit the Delta Society.