PRESS RELEASE (10/2/2017)
Four-legged friends for the residents of the “A. Ramella” Protected Residence.
Monday, February 13, a Loano, the experimental project of pet therapy for the guests of the Protected Residence “A. Ramella”, promoted by the’Department of Social Services of the City of Loano in collaboration with the’Pet Therapy Association VdA.
“We are starting to experiment with a new activity for the elderly living in the Municipal Protected Residence," says Mayor Luigi Pignocca - thanks to a bequest that helped us start the project and thanks to the collaboration of the Il Sestante Consortium, which will house us in the rooms on the second floor of the facility. Donating resources to the Loano people's nursing home was Dr. Giuseppe Trucco, a family physician who in his work combined high professionalism with great humanity and closeness to the many families he cared for. We gratefully remember his generosity and thank his family.”
“The Multisystemic Pet Therapy - explains the deputy mayor Luca Lettieri -is added to the many activities that, thanks in part to the presence of AVO volunteers, we offer to the “grandparents” living in the nursing home. The benefits that will bring our four-legged friends will be many, their presence will positively affect the motor, verbal, cognitive functions and quality of life of the elderly by improving their emotional state. In fact, Pet Therapy through the relationship between patient, dog and caregiver, will promote an empathic, affective and emotional relationship, which will have benefits on communication, body contact and tactile pleasure, thus stimulating the compromised areas of the elderly.”
“The presence of pets has been shown to be positively reflected on some behavioral and cognitive parameters of patients admitted to social and health care facilities. - Explain the experts from the Center for “Multisystemic Pet Therapy. - Our project is based on the ’introduction of co-therapy, which can reduce the negative effects of senile involution, improving the quality of life and general state of well-being of individuals.
The affective and emotional animal-human relationship has been shown to be effective from a physiological point of view, and activities such as ’inviting the animal to pet and brush, handing it small bites, and walking while holding it on a leash have been found to promote lowering of blood pressure and slowing of heart rate.
In addition, through sensory-type stimulation, it is possible to witness improved attention and interpersonal skills, reduced behavioral disturbances, improved mood and contextually consistent verbal interaction.”
The experimental activity will take place every Monday morning until the April 10.
