Role of pets and animal assisted therapy in suicide prevention

Preventive measures in suicidal patients include immediate crisis management with rapid-acting medications and hospital admission of patients who are at extremely elevated risk, creating a safety plan, eliminating any means which may facilitate self-injury, preliminary treatment of underlying psychiatric illnesses, psychotherapy, and assuring the continuity of care between the hospital and primary care/mental health professionals. […]

A social-emotional learning program for suicide prevention through animal-assisted intervention

The aim of the study was to carry out a pilot implementation and evaluation of the OverCome-AAI program, a pioneering program for the prevention of suicidal behavior through animal-assisted interventions for young people with high risk factors for suicidal behavior. The study sample consisted of 30 adolescents (11 boys and 19 girls) aged between 14 […]