title: The therapeutic use of animals.
abstract: Animal-facilitated therapy both benefits and suffers from the attention of the public and press. There is a need to balance the enthusiasm for pet-facilitated therapy programs with guidelines for their judicial use and continued research to identify their full potential.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic; D002648:Child; D004285:Dogs; D005399:Fishes; D001841:Human-Animal Bond; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D009735:Nursing Homes; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods; D012932:Social Facilitation; D013812:Therapeutics