Mentally ill benefit from work with farm animals
Friday, May 2, 2008
By Amy Norton
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Working with farm animals may help people with schizophrenia and other psychiatric conditions develop self-confidence and better coping skills, research suggests.
The study, of 90 Norwegian adults with various mental health conditions, found that those who spent 12 weeks working with farm animals showed improvements in their self-esteem and coping abilities.
The findings build on evidence that caring for domestic animals, like cats and dogs, can be helpful for people with serious mental health disorders.
But until now, there had been no well-designed studies into the benefits of farm work.
This is despite the fact that the concept of "green care" for psychiatric disorders is gaining more and more interest; the idea is to give patients a chance to care for animals, gardens or other parts of their environment in order to build their self-confidence and sense of responsibility.
In Norway, there are now about 200 farms that offer psychiatric patients a chance to work with animals, Dr. Bente Berget, the lead researcher on the new study, told Reuters Health.
For their study, published in the online journal Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health, Berget and her colleagues followed 90 psychiatric patients who either had "animal-assisted therapy" added to their standard care or continued with their usual care only.
The group included both inpatients and outpatients being treated for a range of disorders, including schizophrenia, mood disorders such as major depression and bipolar disorder, and personality disorders.
Fifteen farmers were recruited to offer the patients a chance to work with cows, sheep, horses and other farm animals for three months.
Six months later, Berget's team found, patients who had worked on the farms showed gains in their self-confidence and ability to cope with everyday stresses. Their counterparts who had stayed with standard care alone showed no such improvements.
This difference suggests that animal-assisted therapy is a "suitable addition" to routine psychiatric care, said Berget, a researcher at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.
She explained that gains in self-confidence and coping skills are important for people with serious psychiatric disorders because that can open them up to other types of work and social activities.
"I believe this will improve their quality of life over time," Berget said.
SOURCE: Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health, online April 11, 2008.
Friday, May 2, 2008
By Amy Norton
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Working with farm animals may help people with schizophrenia and other psychiatric conditions develop self-confidence and better coping skills, research suggests.
The study, of 90 Norwegian adults with various mental health conditions, found that those who spent 12 weeks working with farm animals showed improvements in their self-esteem and coping abilities.
The findings build on evidence that caring for domestic animals, like cats and dogs, can be helpful for people with serious mental health disorders.
But until now, there had been no well-designed studies into the benefits of farm work.
This is despite the fact that the concept of "green care" for psychiatric disorders is gaining more and more interest; the idea is to give patients a chance to care for animals, gardens or other parts of their environment in order to build their self-confidence and sense of responsibility.
In Norway, there are now about 200 farms that offer psychiatric patients a chance to work with animals, Dr. Bente Berget, the lead researcher on the new study, told Reuters Health.
For their study, published in the online journal Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health, Berget and her colleagues followed 90 psychiatric patients who either had "animal-assisted therapy" added to their standard care or continued with their usual care only.
The group included both inpatients and outpatients being treated for a range of disorders, including schizophrenia, mood disorders such as major depression and bipolar disorder, and personality disorders.
Fifteen farmers were recruited to offer the patients a chance to work with cows, sheep, horses and other farm animals for three months.
Six months later, Berget's team found, patients who had worked on the farms showed gains in their self-confidence and ability to cope with everyday stresses. Their counterparts who had stayed with standard care alone showed no such improvements.
This difference suggests that animal-assisted therapy is a "suitable addition" to routine psychiatric care, said Berget, a researcher at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.
She explained that gains in self-confidence and coping skills are important for people with serious psychiatric disorders because that can open them up to other types of work and social activities.
"I believe this will improve their quality of life over time," Berget said.
SOURCE: Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health, online April 11, 2008.
