What are Animal-Assisted Activities (AAA)?
Animal-Assisted Activities (AAA) are the casual meet-and-greet activities that involve pets visiting people. They are spontaneous and unplanned, not goal directed, and delivered by a professional, a para-professional or a trained volunteer and a registered therapy animal. Documentation is not required, but the benefits for those visited can include increased rapport, outward focus, and socialization.
People visited by a therapy animal team experience acceptance, empathy, mental stimulation, entertainment, and often a spiritual connection that may otherwise be lacking in their environment. They benefit from the physical contact and physiological effects of being with an animal, including decreased blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, and decreased stress hormone levels. They have an opportunity to express nurturing and care for another creature that they may not have had otherwise.
People visited by a therapy animal team experience acceptance, empathy, mental stimulation, entertainment, and often a spiritual connection that may otherwise be lacking in their environment. They benefit from the physical contact and physiological effects of being with an animal, including decreased blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, and decreased stress hormone levels. They have an opportunity to express nurturing and care for another creature that they may not have had otherwise.
