Animal-assisted therapy in palliative care terapia assistida com animais nos cuidados paliativos

Abstract

There are still many cases where traditional medical care does not provide a realistic solution for patients with devastating diseases so other interventions should be adopted. We present a case report of a 76 year-old woman admitted to a Palliative Care unit due to stage IV colon adenocarcinoma, and we describe the contribution of a six-year-old Yorkshire terrier in her symptom management. Animal-assisted therapy can be of great use in palliative care, contributing to the patients' pain management, relief from suffering and improvement of quality of life.