Voluntary project “For Others” provides recreation and social interaction by implementing the activity assisted by animals / Projeto voluntário “Pelos Outros” proporciona recreação e interação social mediante implantação da atividade assistida por animais

• Autor(a) principal: Dias, Fernanda Gosuen Gonçalves
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Honsho, Daniel Kan, Thomaz, Adoniram, Pereira, Lucas de Freitas, Pessinato, Messias Gonçalves, Oliveira, Alex Roberto de, Ganaqui, Gabriela Baldini, Honsho, Cristiane dos Santos
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista Veras
• Texto Completo: https://ojs.brazilianjournals.com.br/ojs/index.php/BRJD/article/view/11487
• topic: Co-therapist. Quality of life. Trained dogs. Voluntary. Welfare.

Animal-assisted activity is characterized by informal visits to schools, daycare centers, nursing homes and hospitals with the presence of animals, trained or not, for recreation with educational, social and motivational purposes. This activity can be applied in isolation or in association with other complementary ones such as therapy and animal-assisted education. In this context, in the activity assisted by animals several species are used, but the one of choice is the canine, due to indole and dressage facility. It is essential that the participating animals have an updated health certificate so that they do not transmit infectious diseases, in addition to the importance for their own health. Scientifically, it has been proven that human-animal interaction provides social reintegration, reduction of anxiety, loneliness, depression and psychological disorders, in addition to improving self-esteem, reasoning and concentration. Thus, the association of these adjuvant factors with conventional therapies favors the quality of life and longevity of the participating individuals. In view of the promising results attributed to the activity assisted by animals, the objective of the present work is to describe the performance of the social project “For Others” in the implementation of this modality with the help of trained dogs, helping the elderly, children, disabled, sick and homeless people in the city of Franca (SP) and region. The results of this voluntary category demonstrate satisfaction not only from participants in the activity assisted by animals, but also from their families and caregivers.