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Animal-assisted therapies
Description
Therapies involving animals are particularly beneficial for people with learning or physical disabilities, as well as the elderly and those in long-term residential healthcare settings. While it is acknowledged that animals have been used for relaxation purposes, e.g. swimming with dolphins, these activities have not been included here as they are generally considered to be self-prescribed recreational activities as opposed to specific clinical interventions.
Hippotherapy
Description
Hippotherapy differs from therapeutic riding in that it is a specific physiotherapy treatment on horseback, for adults and children with varying degrees of physical, cognitive or emotional disability. The person sits passively on the horse’s back without the conventional saddle, allowing for three-dimensional movement of the horse, thus helping to elicit automatic reactions from the rider as they accommodate to the horse’s gait. The physiotherapist applies neurodevelopmental and sensory integration techniques to develop balance and posture, which programmes or re-programmes the mind via a feedback loop, allowing more normal movement to be developed. It also engenders self confidence, flexibility and muscle strength. When the person is unable to accommodate to the horse’s movement, back riding is used in which a physiotherapist qualified in neurodevelopment and riding sits on the horse behind the person and facilitates techniques to encourage postural control. It is a labour-intensive therapy involving the therapist, a riding master who controls the horse and a side helper and is, consequently, expensive.
Pet therapy
Description
Pet therapy was originally endorsed by Florence Nightingale who observed that pets were often excellent companions for the sick. It has since developed into a widely used therapy involving a range of interventions including: facilitating animals to visit people in hospital or convalescent homes, especially those who are away from home for long periods of time, the use of pets as part of a therapy programme and the training of dogs to facilitate independence in people who are disabled.
Anthroposophical medicine
Description
Anthroposophical medicine was developed by the Austrian philosopher, Rudolph Steiner, the name derived from the Greek anthropos (human) and sophia (wisdom). It is based on the concept of body, mind and spirit/ego and encompasses the life-force/etheric body and the soul/astral body. Health equates to maintenance of equilibrium between the four parts, in conjunction with earth, water, fire and air and is dependent on the balance between catabolism (breakdown and use of energy) and anabolism (building and storing of energy). Anthroposophical medicine also recognizes three interconnected dynamic systems: the nervous system (spinal column, brain and nerves, responsible for thought and cognition), metabolic system (responsible for assimilation of nutrition, metabolism and movement of the limbs) and the rhythmic system (responsible for respiratory and circulatory systems, i.e. the rhythms of the body). The nervous and metabolic systems are polar opposites, while the rhythmic system maintains the balance between the two. Illness is viewed as a transformation, as part of the person’s destiny; failure to acknowledge this results in interference with the body/soul connection.
Aromatherapy
Description
Aromatherapy is the therapeutic use of concentrated essential oils administered via the skin in massage, creams, gels and in water, via the respiratory tract in inhalations and vaporizers via mucous membranes, including rectally and vaginally, plus, occasionally gastrointestinally (aromatology). Therapeutic effects are thought to result from a combination of the chemical constituents, methods of administration and the effects of the aromas. The French chemist, Rene-Maurice Gattefosse (1881–1950) first used the term ‘aromatherapie’ and promoted essential oils as medical interventions after he burnt his hand in an accident and found that lavender oil relieved the pain and aided healing. The French surgeon Dr Jean Valnet (1920–1975) subsequently used essential oils effectively to treat wounded soldiers during the First World War and continued his research, teaching and practice almost until his death.
Evidence
There is both clinical and non-clinical evidence that essential oils are antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal and trials have demonstrated their effectiveness in combating methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and other major infections. Clinical studies have demonstrated the value of aromatherapy for labour and other types of pain, reducing blood pressure, anxiety, depression and insomnia but whether this is due to the essential oil chemistry or the method of administration has not yet been adequately verified. Many of the aromatherapy trials have investigated the concept of aromatherapy as a treatment modality, irrespective of the individual oils used. The number of studies on specific essential oils varies, with some, such as tea tree, having vast amounts of evidence, while others which are less well known or less commonly used, have very little, if any, literature to support them. References to clinical research, as well as some case reports, have been included here, where available; readers interested in non-clinical investigations of specific oils are referred to the Journal of Essential Oil Research as one particularly good resource.
Safety:
Dosages should range from 0.5–1% for children; 1–2% during pregnancy, labour and lactation and for patients compromised by illness or debilitating conditions; the normal dose for healthy adults is up to 3% ( a total of 3 drops of essential oil in each 5 mL of carrier/base oil). Care should be taken if the individual is prescribed any medication since the metabolism of essential oils is precisely the same as for pharmacological drugs and there is a theoretical possibility of drug–oil interactions.
Selected essential oils
