Incorporating Pets into Acute Inpatient Rehabilitation: A Case Study.

PURPOSE: The use of animals in various healthcare settings dates as far back as the 19th century, and is still a widely practiced intervention even today. The use of animals in the acute rehabilitation setting is a common practice that benefits both the patient's therapy progression and allows the opportunity for financial reimbursement for the facility. As acute rehabilitation facilities continue to cope with ever changing rules and guidelines, the use of alternate modalities can help the facility overcome difficult challenges while focusing on the needs of the patients. The use of animal assisted therapy is illustrated with a stroke patient at an acute rehabilitation facility who benefited from implementing a pet therapy regimen when regular therapy modalities were not helping. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Incorporating animal assisted therapy in acute rehabilitation settings is described to obtain greater satisfaction for patients and staff and to facilitate reimbursement for rehabilitation settings.