Karin Hediger

University of Basel | UNIBAS · Division of Clinical Psychology and Animal Assisted Interventions

Background Stress is a widespread phenomenon and reality of everyday life, entailing negative consequences for physical and psychological wellbeing. Previous studies have indicated that exposure to greenspaces and nature-based interventions are promising approaches to reducing stress and promoting restoration. However, an increasing percentage of t...

Background Stress is a widespread phenomenon and reality of everyday life, entailing negative consequences for physical and psychological wellbeing. Previous studies have indicated that exposure to greenspaces and nature-based interventions are promising approaches to reducing stress and promoting restoration. However, an increasing percentage of t...

Objective The relevance of pets in long-term home care is increasingly recognised because of their effects on health outcomes in clients and the rising number of clients receiving long-term care at home (further referred to as clients receiving home care). Currently, there is a lack of supportive materials that address pet-related challenges within...

Objective:The relevance of pets in long-term home care is increasingly recognized due to their positive effects on health outcomes in clients, and the growing numbers of pet-owning clients receiving long-term care at home (LTCH). In the Netherlands, there is a lack of supportive materials concerning pet-related issues in LTCH. The aim of this proje...

Background Motivation and a therapeutic alliance are crucial for successful therapy. It is assumed that dogs can increase motivation and help support therapeutic relationships. This is one of the reasons for including dogs in psychotherapy. While the positive effects of psychotherapy with dogs have been documented over the past years, little is kno...

Achtergrond: Huisdieren zijn belangrijk in het leven van thuiswonende ouderen en van degenen die langdurige thuiszorg (LTZ) ontvangen. Het doel van dit project was om de betekenis van huisdieren voor thuiswonende ouderen te verkennen en te onderzoeken of deze ook van toepassing zijn op LTZ-cliënten. Daarnaast exploreerden we mogelijke huisdiergerel...

Background: Human-animal interactions in human services are on the rise, with an increased focus on the welfare of animals involved as well as on client safety. Based on scientifically based training methods, it has been proposed that horses involved in therapy settings could benefit from learning proactive strategies to reduce stress. One possible...

The contribution of companion animals to human mental wellbeing has received an increasing amount of scientific interest. Research findings concerning the nature of this relationship are however mixed. Variability in behavior and characteristics of the animal might explain this heterogeneity. The main aim of the present study is to investigate the...

Background Pets play very important roles for older adults. However, whether the same roles apply to pets of care clients receiving long-term care at home (LTCH) is unclear. This study aimed primarily to explore whether the roles of pets for LTCH-clients who own pets are comparable to the roles of pets for older adults in the general population. Fu...

Background Companion animals can fulfill children’s attachment needs. A secure attachment to humans is positively associated with psychosocial health, therefore, the extent to which this applies to a strong child-companion animal bond is worth examining. Aims We aimed to gain insight into the current literature regarding the bond between children...

Objective Chronic pain is a common complaint in children and adolescents, placing an enormous burden on individuals, their families, and the healthcare system. New innovative approaches for the treatment of pediatric chronic pain (PCP) are clearly warranted, as drop-out rates in intervention studies are high and it can be difficult to engage patien...

Background Pets play very important roles for older adults. However, whether the same roles apply to pets of care clients receiving long-term care at home (LTCH) is unclear. This study aimed primarily to explore whether the roles of pets for LTCH-clients who own pets are comparable to the roles of pets for older adults in the general population. Fu...

Animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) is a promising treatment approach for pain, but possible mechanisms still need to be elucidated. This study set out to investigate the analgesic effects of an animal provided with a treatment rationale in a randomized controlled trial employing a standardized experimental heat-pain paradigm. We randomly assigned...

Objective Western countries face ageing populations and increasing numbers of older adults receiving long-term care at home (home care). Approximately 50% of households in Western countries own pets, and while pets impact the health and wellbeing of their owners, most healthcare organisations do not account for the role of pets in the lives of thei...

Older adults receiving long-term care at home (LTCH-clients) were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and its countermeasures. Previous research suggests that pets can mitigate some of the pandemic’s impacts for older adults but results are contradictory. Our aim was to investigate experiences of LTCH-clients and the significance of their pets during...

Background There is a broad range of known effects of animal contact on human mental and physical health. Neurological correlates of human interaction with animals have been sparsely investigated. We investigated changes in frontal brain activity in the presence of and during contact with a dog. Methods Twenty-one healthy individuals each particip...

One Health, an integrated health concept, is now an integral part of health research and development. One Health overlaps with other integrated approaches to health such as EcoHealth or Planetary Health, which not only consider the patient or population groups but include them in the social-ecological context. One Health has gained the widest footh...

Background: Previous research has called for improving psychological interventions and developing new treatments for prisoners. Animal-assisted prison-based programmes have increasingly been used as an approach, but there is a lack of studies investigating the effectiveness of such programmes. Objective: To investigate the effects of a dog-assis...

Research on animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) has increased massively in the last few years. But it is still not clear how AAIs work and how important the animal is in such interventions. The aim of this systematic review was to compile the existing state of knowledge about the working mechanisms of AAIs. We searched 12 major electronic database...

Transdiagnostic psychotherapeutic approaches are increasingly used in neurorehabilitation to address psychological distress. Animal-assistance is thought to increase efficacy. The present study evaluates a psychotherapeutic mindfulness- and self-compassion-based group intervention (MSCBI) with and without animal-assistance for patients with acquire...

This chapter concerns the complexity of interspecies relationships in contemporary world. These relationships are ever-changing, yet continuously prone to anthropocentric attitudes and practices, prompting a reflection on the ways people use and abuse (other) animals. The authors offer an outlook on these phenomena focusing on the human-animal bond...

Animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) have been shown to be effective in the treatment of pain. Studies suggest that relationships with animals can have comparable qualities to relationships with humans and that this enables animals to provide social support. Further, the presence of an animal can strengthen the therapeutic alliance between patients...

Animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) have been shown to be effective in the treatment of pain. Studies suggest that relationships with animals can have comparable qualities to relationships with humans and that this enables animals to provide social support. Further, the presence of an animal can strengthen the therapeutic alliance between patients...

Background Over half of the households in The Netherlands have one or more pets. In elderly people, owning a pet is associated with a better quality of life and less loneliness, anxiety, depression and agitation. Many non-residential long term care (LTC) clients rely on support of others to take care of their pets. However, that may place a signifi...

Background Western countries face an aging population and increasing number of people with chronic illnesses. Many countries have shifted from a focus on institutional care to home-based care due to growing healthcare costs and pressure on long-term care. Despite, the increasing difficulty for contemporary family structures to support community-dwe...

Background: Animal-assisted interventions (AAI) are increasingly applied for people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms albeit its effectiveness is unclear. Objectives: To examine the effectiveness of AAI for treating PTSD symptoms. Method: We searched 11 major electronic databases for studies reporting quantitative data on effects...

Integrating animals into therapy is applied increasingly in patients in a minimally conscious state (MCS). This pilot study investigates the effect of animal presence on frontal brain activity in MCS patients compared to healthy subjects. O2HB, HHb and tHb of two MCS patients and two healthy adults was measured in frontal cortex using functional ne...

The second edition of this book contains 32 chapters divided into 4 main sections that discuss the theoretical foundations of One Health; methods, skills and perspectives for the practice of One Health; the application of One Health in infectious and non-infectious diseases and governance and capacity building, all of which are related to the globa...

The second edition of this book contains 32 chapters divided into 4 main sections that discuss the theoretical foundations of One Health; methods, skills and perspectives for the practice of One Health; the application of One Health in infectious and non-infectious diseases and governance and capacity building, all of which are related to the globa...

Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is shown to be an effective method to foster neurorehabilitation. However, no studies investigate long-term effects of AAT in patients with acquired brain injuries. Therefore, the aim of this pilot study was to investigate if and how AAT affects long-term episodic memory using a mixed-method approach. Eight patients ra...

Animal-assisted psychotherapy is increasingly popular and attracts considerable attention in science. Integrating animals into therapy aims at generating added value in health and well-being of humans as well as non-human animals. This approach is reflected in the One Health perspective. However, animal-assisted psychotherapy raises issues regardin...

Zusammenfassung Einleitung: Patienten mit schweren Bewusstseins-störungen wie dem Minimally Conscious State (MCS) minus nach erworbener Hirnverletzung kön-nen einen Rückgewinn an Bewusstsein (Wachheit und Wahrnehmung) und Fähigkeiten aufweisen. Alltagsnahe Therapien wie jene nach dem Affolter-Modell ® haben sich in der Rehabilitation durch-gesetzt....

Research suggests that psychiatric service dogs may be an effective complementary treatment option for military veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Although this practice continues to increase in popularity and research has reached the rigor of clinical trials, the components of the PTSD service dog intervention remain largely undef...

Guinea pigs are often involved in animal-assisted therapy (AAT) but there is little knowledge about the effects of human contact on guinea pigs involved in AAT. The aim of this study was to investigate effects of availability of a retreat, presence of conspecifics, prior experience with AAT, and human interaction on indicators of welfare in guinea...

Objective The goal of this single case study was to qualitatively investigate the effects of animal-assisted therapy in a patient in a minimally conscious state. Method We present a 28-year-old female patient in a minimally conscious state following polytrauma after a sports accident leading to cerebral fat embolism causing multiple CNS ischemic l...

Background Dog-assisted therapy (DAT) is increasingly applied in neurorehabilitation of patients with severe neurological impairments. To date, there are only anecdotal reports investigating its effects. Objectives This study was aimed to evaluate the potential of DAT in pediatric inpatient neurorehabilitation for severely neurologically impaired c...

Animal-assisted therapy for children and adolescents is an increasing treatment approach in pediatrics. Animal-assisted therapy is being applied for children with cancer, neurological diseases, behavioral problems, ADHD, depression, anxiety, autism or after medical interventions, in order to reduce stress, anxiety, and pain, and improve social beha...

Objective To investigate if animal-assisted therapy (AAT) leads to higher consciousness in patients in a minimally conscious state during a therapy session, measured via behavioral reactions, heart rate and heart rate variability. Methods In a randomized two treatment multi-period crossover trial, 10 patients in a minimally conscious state partici...

The aim of this study was to investigate inpatient and staff member attitudes toward and experiences with ward cats, and identify possible mechanisms for how cats affect patient satisfaction in a psychiatric clinic. Thirty-three inpatients diagnosed with depression or psychosis residing on wards with and without cats and 17 staff members working on...

The aim of the study was to analyse interaction processes in equine-assisted therapy (EAT) sessions with ten female clients in the period of emerging adulthood with intellectual disability (ID). Heart rate (HR), heart rate variability and salivary cortisol levels have been analysed in humans and horses before, during and after a standardised therap...

Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is increasingly used to address impaired social competence in patients with acquired brain injury. However, the efficacy of AAT has not been tested in these patients. We used a randomised, controlled within subject trial to determine the effects of AAT on social competence in patients undergoing stationary neurorehabil...

Animal-assisted therapy for children and adolescents is an increasing treatment approach in pediatrics. Animal-assisted therapy is being applied for children with cancer, neurological diseases, behavioral problems, ADHD, depression, anxiety, autism or after medical interventions, aiming stress reduction, anxiety and pain and an increase of social b...

Older adults in most developed countries can now expect to live nearly 80 years without significant disability. To maximize the quality of the years after retirement, societies, governments, and organizations are seeking strategies to help older adults maintain their mental and physical health, and retain their independence. Increasingly, the impac...

Background: The integration of animals into healthcare, referred to as animal-assisted intervention, is a rapidly growing research field and was previously related to One Health. However, the assessment of synergistic effects of animal-assisted interventions (AAI) has been poorly addressed to date. Method: We discuss experiences in integrated hu...

Internationale Studien verweisen auf die großen Potenziale pferdegestützter Therapie in der Behandlung von Traumata bei Kindern und Jugendlichen. Die Beziehungsqualität zwischen Pferd, Patient_in und Therapeut_in wird als zentrale Basis spezifischer Wirkungsdimensionen wie dem „Antagonismus zwischen Einflussnahme und Getragen-Werden“, dem „Bewegung...

Animal-assisted therapy for children and adolescents is an increasing treatment approach in pediatrics. Animal-assisted therapy is being applied for children with cancer, neurological diseases, behavioral problems, ADHD, depression, anxiety, autism or after medical interventions, in order to reduce stress, anxiety, and pain, and improve social beha...

Animal-assisted therapy for children and adolescents is an increasing treatment approach in pediatrics. Animal-assisted therapy is being applied for children with cancer, neurological diseases, behavioral problems, ADHD, depression, anxiety, autism or after medical interventions, aiming stress reduction, anxiety and pain and an increase of social b...

Guinea pigs are included in various animal-assisted interventions (AAIs), but no research has been published to date on behavioral changes in guinea pigs interacting with humans. The goal of this study was to evaluate the behavior in guinea pigs during animal-assisted therapy (AAT) and to identify factors that influence their stress and well-being....

Kapitel 19.3 Tiergestützte Interventionen bei AD(H)S Seiten 305-313 Zusammen mit Andrea Beetz

Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is a method that is used with increasing frequency for patients with various problems in many rehabilitation programs. The success of such programs often depends on staff members' attitudes. However, there is little data investigating staff concerns about animal-assisted interventions and change of staff attitudes over...

Objective: Previous studies have reported that brain-injured patients frequently suffer from cognitive impairments such as attention and concentration deficits. Numerous rehabilitation clinics offer animal-assisted therapy (AAT) to address these difficulties. The authors’ aim was to investigate the immediate effects of AAT on the concentration and...

Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) has been shown to be effective in recent meta-analyses with an improvement of mental health, quality of life, and a decrease in the sense of isolation. Reduction of depressive symptoms in human beings is one of the most beneficial outcomes of AAT. For relapse prevention in depression, conventional mindfulness programs...

The One Health concept of combined veterinary and human health continues to gain momentum, but the supporting literature is sparse. In this book, the origins of the concept are examined, and practical content on methodological tools, data gathering, monitoring techniques, study designs, and mathematical models is included. Zoonotic diseases, with d...

Many practitioners report that the presence of an animal, or interaction with an animal, increases the attention and concentration of children, elderly persons or patients. Previous studies support this impression via indirect variables, but direct effects on children’s attention performance have not yet been measured. We therefore designed a study...

The regulation of stress by an attachment figure is a key feature of attachment relationships. Previous research suggests that in some cases animal companionship may be regarded as an attachment relationship. This may be particularly important for persons with an insecure or disorganized attachment pattern who may find it more difficult than secure...

Social recognition is the basis of all social interactions. Here, we show that, in humans, the evolutionarily highly conserved neuropeptide oxytocin, after intranasal administration, specifically improves recognition memory for faces, but not for nonsocial stimuli. With increased oxytocin levels, previously presented faces were more correctly asses...