Pet Therapy in Chronic Diseases

Chronic diseases, which have become one of the most important health problems of the twenty-first century, are increasing both in the world and in Turkey. Chronic diseases are progressive diseases that affect the quality of life of individuals and require continuous care. It is necessary to keep the functional abilities of individuals with chronic diseases at the highest level, prevent the development of symptoms and ensure that they adapt to their diseases. For this, in today's modern medicine, it is recommended to use pet therapy, which is one of the complementary treatments, as well as pharmacological treatment. Pet therapy is a type of complementary therapy based on human-animal interaction that positively affects physical or psychological problems related to chronic diseases and mental disorders. In this book, the history of pet therapy, the theories on which it is based, the mechanism, the areas in which it is applied, its use in chronic diseases, the role and responsibilities of the nurse in pet therapy applications will be discussed.