Resumen

CRIPPA, Anelise  y  GONCALVES DOS SANTO FEIJO, Anamaria. ANIMAL- ASSISTED ACTIVITY AS AN COMPLEMENTARY ALTERNATIVE TO PATIENT'S TREATMENT: SEARCH FOR SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE. rev.latinoam.bioet. [online]. 2014, vol.14, n.1, pp.14-25. ISSN 1657-4702.

Nowadays being healthy is understood as a state of physical, mental and social wellbeing over the absence of conditions and diseases. Animal-assisted activity (AAA) meets the actual concept of being healthy and it has been used for several years as a complementary measure to the pharmacological treatment, aiming at patient's recovery and well-being. The AAA's efficacy has been reported worldwide in areas such as pediatrics, geriatrics, psychiatry, among others, proved beneficial both at physical and psychic levels of institutionalized individuals. This study aimed to identify studies published until 2013 about AAA, in 5 important databases (Bireme, Cochrane, Embase Pubmed and Scielo), using the term "Animal-assisted activity" Duplicate articles in the same database, one article written in Japanese, one in German and the articles focused on therapy assisted by animals were excluded. A total of 55 articles were found from five databases: Bireme (28), Embase (13), Cochrane (1), Pubmed (11) e Scielo (2). Only 17 articles fulfilled the pre established criteria. All displayed positive results in applying Animal-assisted activity to sick or socially isolated individuals. It was concluded that this practice, despite it's importance supporting the patient's well-being and being recognized in several countries, it is still not widely widespread scientifically.

Palabras clave : Animal-assisted activity; beneficence; bioethics; animal ethics.

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