Animal-Assisted Green Care Farming for Patients With Mental and Physical Disorders: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Green care is an umbrella term that includes numerous therapeutic interventions that immerse the patient into nature and natural environments. Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) with farm animals is a component of green care that may benefit patients with mental health disorders. While the majority of research exploring farm AATs originated in Europe, interest in this therapeutic intervention is emerging in the United States. While there are green care farms utilizing animal therapies in the United States, these therapeutic interventions have not been reported in the scientific literature. Further exploration of this topic in the United States may benefit various patient populations and contribute to overall better health care. A literature review found that farm AATs may be beneficial for patients with mental health disorders, but did not identify any studies addressing AAT with farm animals in the context of physical health disorders. This may be a desirable direction for future research.

How Wise is Conventional Wisdom?

“…Addressing social interaction and communication skills in people with autism, animals may serve as a “social lubricant” to facilitate interaction between humans. Further exploration of this topic in the US may benefit various patient populations and contribute to overall better health care (Sargsyan & Beebe, 2023).…”