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A study done by psychiatry
professor Sandra Barker, Ph.D., along with co-investigators
Anand Pandurangi, M.D., and Al Best, Ph.D., found that
15 minutes with a therapy dog before an electroconvulsive
therapy session significantly reduced the fear that patients
experience by 37 percent.
Barker is director of the Center for Human-Animal Interaction,
which studies the health benefits of people interacting
with companion animals. Her finding is the latest in a
series of studies showing that interacting with animals
can lower the anxiety of psychiatric patients. While such
centers are usually confined to veterinary schools, the
Center for Human-Animal Interaction is housed in the School
of Medicine, a national first.
A recent $10,000 gift from The Charles Engelhard Foundation
supports the center's research as well as use of certified
therapy animals to help patients meet treatment goals and
promotion of animal-assisted therapy, and pet visitation
to soothe anxious hospital patients facing serious medical
treatments.
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