Animal-assisted therapy has been used in the treatment and rehabilitation of several
physical and mental disorders, but its effectiveness for chronic schizophrenic patients
has been evaluated in only a few studies. Our purpose was to introduce animal-assisted
group therapy in the rehabilitation of severely disabled chronic schizophrenic patients,
in order to enhance their communication skills. Five patients diagnosed with schizophrenia
(three females, two males, ages ranging from 32 to 71 years), four human members (one
therapist, one co-therapist, and the owners of the dogs) and two therapy dogs (a five-year-old,
female Boxer and a two-year-old, female Bichon Frise) participated in the therapy
on a weekly basis, for a six-month period. The therapy was oriented toward improving
non-specific (i.e., general well-being) and specific (i.e., communication patterns)
areas of the patients' daily activities. The outcome measure was the change in the
patients' nonverbal communication, as measured by an analysis of standardized, video-recorded
scenarios registered at the beginning of the therapy, and six month's later, at the
end of it. Because two patients completed less than half of the sessions, we analyzed
the data of only three patients. Positive changes occurred in some post-treatment
nonverbal parameters compared with pre-treatment parameters. All three patients improved
in the usage of space during communication, while partial improvement in other domains
of nonverbal communication (anatomy of movements, dynamics of gestures, regulator
gestures) was also observed. Animal-assisted therapy can improve certain aspects of
nonverbal communication in schizophrenic patients. The results of our exploratory
study show a need for further investigation, using controlled studies with a larger
number of patients.
