This book brings the animal into the scholarly discussion of animal-assisted therapy and other interventions. Challenging the current reliance on outcome studies, the author offers a new way of thinking empirically about animal-assisted interventions—analysis of human-animal interaction as a critical component. Through empirical demonstrations from laboratory and applied settings, the book encourages practitioners and scholars to undergo a deeper examination of the basic interactions that occur between clients or patients and therapy animals. Dr. Fournier provides new ideas on measurement, experimentation, and interpretation of human-animal interaction, aimed at identifying the role of the animal in interventions for human health and well-being.
This book brings the animal into the scholarly discussion of animal-assisted therapy and other interventions. Challenging the current reliance on outcome studies, the author offers a new way of thinking empirically about animal-assisted interventions—analysis of human-animal interaction as a critical component. Through empirical demonstrations from laboratory and applied settings, the book encourages practitioners and scholars to undergo a deeper examination of the basic interactions that occur between clients or patients and therapy animals. Dr. Fournier provides new ideas on measurement, experimentation, and interpretation of human-animal interaction, aimed at identifying the role of the animal in interventions for human health and well-being. Promotes the use of empirical methods in animal practices with a specific focus on animal-assisted interventionIntroduces a conceptual model to organize and explain animal-assisted intervention outcomesCenters around deep analysis of the human-animal interaction and the animal's role within animal-assisted interventions