An overview of the benefits of animal-assisted interventions in medical and therapeutic contexts for human health: cognitive mechanisms, sensory perception and welfare considerations

Animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) are programs that incorporate animals as a therapeutic factor to improve human well-being. To date, these programs have been associated with significant physical and physiological benefits to human health. Animals have been incorporated as monitoring companions, such as diabetes-alert and seizure-alert dogs. Moreover, animal therapy for people with mental health issues, physical impairments, or autism spectrum disorders has shown social and communicative benefits. Although AAIs are proposed as a complementary treatment approach to humans with mental health issues or to individuals with autism spectrum disorder, further research is needed to address the benefits of AAIs in other medical issues or the instances where animal therapy might not provide a positive effect to patients. This paper provides an overview of the diverse ways in which animals (particularly dogs and horses) can support people, with a special focus on the health benefits they provide. The objective further incorporates the cognitive processes and the ontogenetic development of sensory systems relevant to animal-assisted therapy (AAT).