Evaluating College Student Interest in Pet Therapy

The first year of college can be extremely stressful, especially for students residing Oil campus. Objective: The authors obtained information front college freshmen about their relationships with pets and investigated interest in a pet therapy pro-rain Lis social support for transient stressful periods. Participants: As part Of a university orientation Program, 246 college freshman attended 1 of 5 health Issues sessions offered during the 2006-2007 academic year. Approximately 50 freshmen attended each session. Method: participants completed a questionnaire at the beginning of the session. followed by a 20-minute presentation about Pet therapy that ended with pet therapy visitation. Results: Students identified that visits with certified pet therapy dogs could be beneficial to college freshman during their first year away from home. Conclusions: These students indicated that a pet therapy program could temporarily fill the absence of previous support systems and be a catalyst for establishing new social relationships.