Questionnaire on animal-assisted therapy (AAT): The expectation for AAT as a day-care program for Japanese schizophrenic patients.

Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) was developed to promote human social and emotional functioning as a day-care program for psychiatric patients. In this study, we determined which animals 481 schizophrenic patients liked and what they thought about AAT, using an original questionnaire. It was found that more than 80% of the present patients liked animals and that they thought contact with animals was useful as a novel therapy. They had much interest in, and many hopes, for AAT.