Dipartimento di Biologia Cellulare e Neuroscienze, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
Ann Ist Super Sanita. 2011;47(4):341-8. doi: 10.4415/ANN_11_04_04.
There is a growing interest for the potential health benefits of human-animal interactions. Although scientific evidence on the effects is far from being consistent, companion animals are used with a large number of human subjects, ranging from children to elderly people, who benefit most from emotional support. Based on a comprehensive review of the literature, this paper examines the potential for domesticated animals, such as dogs, for providing emotional and physical opportunities to enrich the lives of many frail subjects. In particular, we focus on innovative interventions, including the potential use of dogs to improve the life of emotionally-impaired children, such as those affected by autism spectrum disorders. Overall an ever increasing research effort is needed to search for the mechanism that lie behind the human-animal bond as well as to provide standardized methodologies for a cautious and effective use of animal-assisted interventions.
人们对人类与动物互动的潜在健康益处越来越感兴趣。尽管关于这些影响的科学证据还远不一致，但陪伴动物被广泛应用于大量的人类对象，从儿童到老年人，他们最受益于情感支持。本文通过对文献的综合回顾，研究了家养动物（如狗）为丰富许多脆弱对象的生活提供情感和身体机会的潜力。特别是，我们专注于创新干预措施，包括潜在使用狗来改善受自闭症谱系障碍等情绪受损儿童的生活。总的来说，需要不断增加研究力度，以寻找人类与动物关系背后的机制，并为谨慎有效的动物辅助干预提供标准化方法。
