Therapy Animals

Programs and Services

• Pet Partners Program® - training and screening for people who want to visit hospitals, nursing homes, and other facilities with their animals; list of Team Evaluators; information for registered Pet Partners, Pet Partners Instructors, and Pet Partners Team Evaluators; articles and stories about visiting with animals. Updated!
• Animal-Assisted Therapy Services - resources and services for health and human services professionals and the facilities they work at.
• Calendar of Courses and Events Updated!

Information

• About Animal-Assisted Activities and Animal-Assisted Therapy - definitions, examples, and differences.
• Continuing Education and Training - courses and training provided by Delta Society.
• What's the difference between service, therapy, companion, and "social" animals/dogs?
• Seniors and Companion Animals - Compilation of resources on the many ways seniors may benefit from interactions with animals.

Resources

• Animal-Assisted Therapy Bibliography. Updated!
• Animals in Institutions ActionGuide.
• Animals in the Classroom ActionGuide.
• Animals in Residential Facilities - includes sample forms to download and print. New!
• Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) Applications I Student Guide. New!
• Animal-Assisted Therapy Therapeutic Interventions.
• Good for Your Animals, Good for You: How to Live and Work with Animals in Activity and Therapy Programs and Stay Healthy.
• Standards of Practice in Animal-Assisted Activities and Therapy.
• Starting a Visiting-Animal Program. New!
• Draft Guideline for Environmental Infection Control in Healthcare Facilities (PDF, 832KB) . Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee. Animals in Healthcare Facilities Infection Control Guidelines from the CDC. See Section H. Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.0 or later. New!

Download the Adobe Acrobat Reader if you don't have the latest version. An accessible version of the download page is available.

Articles

• Crate Training Your Therapy Pet (PDF)
• Animals Healing Children
• Animals as Teachers
• To Touch a Llama
• A Way with Kids
• The New Role of Dogs in Correctional Facilities
• R.E.A.D. is a Pawsitive Program for Kids of All Ages

Dr. Aubrey Fine, editor of Handbook on Animal-Assisted Therapy, is looking for stories for a new book, Life Lessons through the Eyes of P.J. and her Friends: The Therapy Animals.

The Delta Society Bookstore, in association with Amazon.com and Dogwise, lists several books that might be of interest to healthcare professionals, Pet Partners, and other people who are interested and/or involved in animal-assisted activities and therapy.