{"id":18018,"date":"2017-06-30T11:15:47","date_gmt":"2017-06-30T15:15:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=18018"},"modified":"2017-10-12T12:14:59","modified_gmt":"2017-10-12T16:14:59","slug":"making-fun-animals-help-physicalmental-therapy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2017\/06\/making-fun-animals-help-physicalmental-therapy\/","title":{"rendered":"Making it fun: Do animals help with physical\/mental therapy?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A UTC-based study to see if animals can help with physical or mental therapy may be the first of its type in the world.<\/p><\/div>\n

The woman runs the brush along the back of the Australian shepherd, gently stroking the dog\u2019s fur.<\/p>\n

In another setting, she carefully snaps a collar on a different dog, attaches a leash and stands up as the dog\u2019s tail wags expectantly.<\/p>\n

Just an owner and her pets, right?<\/p>\n

Nope. Not her pets, her therapy.<\/p>\n

UTC\u2019s David Levine and Janice Ryan are conducting research into physical and mental rehabilitation that includes animals but goes beyond the well-known service and therapy dogs. From what they have discovered \u2014 or not discovered \u2014 their study may be the first of its kind worldwide.<\/p>\n

Service dogs help those with disabilities such as blindness, seizures and other physical issues. Therapy dogs can provide affection, attention and comfort to those in such places as hospitals and nursing homes.<\/p>\n

Levine and Ryan’s study, in its very initial stages, looks at different issues in a two-pronged design. On his side, Levine says it\u2019s to see whether using animals will make physical rehabilitation easier for patients who\u2019ve had a stroke or brain injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey might be doing something with a dog like brushing it or taking a collar on and off to work on a fine motor skill,\u201d explains Levine, a professor and Walter M. Cline Chair of Excellence in the Department of Physical Therapy. \u201cWe\u2019re using the animal as kind of a partner in the rehab.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Ryan, an assistant professor in the Doctorate of Occupational Therapy program, the goal is to see whether the animals can reduce the stress felt by people with PTSD, dementia or autism, among other things. Even when they\u2019re dealing with the tasks of day-to-day, stress can overwhelm them, she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have plans for this that go into looking at something called \u2018cortisol level,\u2019\u201d says Ryan. \u201cWhen we\u2019re stressed, cortisol increases in our body, a nervous system response to stress.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her \u201cpassion,\u201d she says, is \u201cfinding any system that reduces that stress.\u201d<\/p>\n

Worldwide help<\/h3>\n

When the idea for the study was first considered, Levine went online to see if similar research had been done and generated resources they might use. No go.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere really were no resources readily available,\u201d he says, so the decision was made to create their own.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people think that animal-assisted therapy is great, but nobody has been able to prove anything and so much of it is anecdotal,\u201d Ryan adds.<\/p>\n

The study has started with a set of videos made by UTC videographers and showing patients \u2014 student actors, actually \u2014 doing various exercises with dogs. The plan is to post the videos on the web for free, giving other animal-assisted therapy experts the chance to view them and perhaps use what they see in their own therapy programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone in Taiwan wants to look at using animal-assisted therapy, they can just go to this YouTube website and get ideas of how to incorporate animals into therapy,\u201d Levine says.<\/p>\n

Contact information for the experts is being pulled from journals, books and other materials, Ryan says. Surveys will be sent to them with the hope that they\u2019ll return their thoughts on which exercises should be used for which therapy goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re giving them options like fine motor skills, bilateral coordination, balance, postural control,\u201d Ryan says. \u201cThe biggest thing right now is just getting it set up so that we get enough data back that shows which exercise works best for what goals.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time, however, Levine and Ryan hope the experts also will make suggestions, ask questions and report on how the therapy worked for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis study allows us to have a consensus of experts so we have a better idea of even what to research,\u201d Ryan says. \u201cAs we get data back from these experts we can potentially start thinking: \u2018OK, let\u2019s research this and that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Real-life results<\/h3>\n

One of the research angles is to determine whether animals help those in rehab with their physical therapy, Levine says. Traditional rehab exercises \u201cmight not be something you\u2019re doing in real life,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

An everyday activity such as petting a dog may make rehab more fun than the usual exercises to re-establish balance or strengthen arms and legs. And if it\u2019s more fun, the patient may be more willing to do it on a regular basis, he says.<\/p>\n

Feeding treats to the dog, for instance, can help retrain muscles used in rotating the torso. Trying to buckle a collar while standing may help with balance and also the ability to follow a sequence of tasks.<\/p>\n

Currently, the web videos are geared to physical therapy but in the fall new videos will be made to engage occupational therapy and psychology students, Ryan says. But the OT and PT elements of the study can overlap, she adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs stress reduces, muscles relax, which helps with balance and posture,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a person has a real limited range of things that they feel comfortable doing, and you\u2019re giving them something that feels challenging and empowering and they\u2019re able to work through it, that emotional pattern carries over into the rest of their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n