This honors thesis will focus on current practices of animal assisted therapies and the influence that they have on stress, health and memory. The researcher will discuss animal assisted therapies within elderly populations and children populations. Animal assisted therapies (AAT) are important - but an underutilized - component of health care that can provide cost-effective ways to improve the mental health of patients undergoing stressful situations (such as cancer treatments or end of life care). This research will examine the literature regarding the patient and provider perceptions of animal assisted therapies, identify the theories upon which different animal-assisted therapies were developed, compare and contrast best practices among different therapies, and finally, develop the logistics for a research study that would extend the existing literature.
| Presenter: | Katherine Feeney (Undergraduate Student) |
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| Topic: | Honors Program |
| Location: | Seymour Union Main Lounge |
| Time: | 1:15 pm Session III |
