| Abstract | Mentalno zdravlje predstavlja jednu od glavnih odrednica cjelokupnog zdravlja te utječe na sve aspekte života pojedinca, kao i na kvalitetu života općenito. Ono je multidimenzionalni konstrukt koji obuhvaća umno, emocionalno, duševno te racionalno funkcioniranja, kao i sposobnosti razmišljanja, percipiranja, ponašanja te kontroliranja emocija. Prevalencija poremećaja mentalnog zdravlja u današnje je vrijeme u porastu, a posebno je primjetno narušeno mentalno zdravlje u osoba s invaliditetom zbog različitih barijera s kojima se svakodnevno susreću. Diskriminacija, stigma, nedovoljna socijalna podrška, izolacija i isključenost od strane društva te suočavanje s različitim zdravstvenim teškoćama samo su neki od izazova s kojima se nose. Iz tog je razloga potrebno u proces edukacije i rehabilitacije uključiti različite programe psihosocijalne podrške te komplementarne terapije među kojima možemo navesti i terapije uz pomoć životinja. Naime, spoznaja da su životinje oduvijek vrlo važan dio čovjekova života inicirala je ideju da one mogu biti dio različitih terapijskih pristupa. U tom se kontekstu posebno ističu psi pomagači pri čemu je iskustvo korisnika pokazalo da oni mogu pozitivno utjecati na podržavanje mentalnog zdravlja i ublažavanje psihofizičkih posljedica invaliditeta. Na toj je osnovi definiran i cilj ovog rada usmjeren na dobivanje uvida na koja područja mentalnog zdravlja utječe prisutnost pasa pomagača, u kojoj vrsti intervencija pokazuju najveću uspješnost te kod kojih vrsta invaliditeta ili zdravstvenih teškoća se najčešće koriste. Pregledom dostupne literature te relevantnih istraživanja utvrđeno je da psi pomagači imaju izrazito pozitivan utjecaj na mentalno zdravlje osoba s invaliditetom, da im svojim prisustvom uvelike olakšavaju svakodnevno funkcioniranje i suočavanje s izazovima s kojima se susreću te da značajno doprinose višoj razini samopouzdanja, samostalnosti i neovisnosti. Međutim, iako su potvrđene značajne dobrobiti ovog pristupa i dalje vrlo mali broj osoba s invaliditetom ima psa pomagača. Isto tako, iako istraživanja vezana uz temu ovoga rada postoje, ona su malobrojna, stoga je potrebna njihova daljnja provedba kako bi se definirali različiti modeli prilagođeni specifičnim potrebama korisnika, ali i kako bi se senzibilizirala šira društvena okolina o potrebi osiguravanja resursa koji bi omogućili češće i učinkovitije korištenje pasa pomagača u okviru kompleksne edukacije i rehabilitacije osoba s invaliditetom. |
| Abstract (english) | Mental health is one of the main determinants of overall health and affects all aspects of an individual's life, as well as the quality of life in general. It is a multidimensional construct that encompasses the mental, emotional, spiritual, and rational functioning of an individual, as well as the ability to think, perceive, behave, and control emotions. The prevalence of mental health disorders is increasing rapidly nowadays, and due to various barriers that people with disabilities face in everyday life, such as discrimination, stigma, insufficient social support, isolation, and exclusion from society, while also facing various health issues caused by the disability itself, may put the mentioned population at increased risk of poor mental health. For this reason, it is necessary to include diverse programs of psychosocial support and complementary therapies, as well as animal-assisted therapies in the education and rehabilitation process. A cognizance that animals have always been an extremely important part of human life initiated the idea that they could take part in different therapeutic approaches. In the therapeutic context, assistance dogs stand out the most, and user experience has shown that they can have an extremely positive effect on supporting mental health and mitigating the psychophysical consequences of disability. On this basis, the goal of this paper was defined, and it was aimed at gaining insight into the benefits of assistance dogs on the mental health of people with disabilities, which animal-assisted therapies including dogs show the greatest success, and with which types of disabilities are assistance dogs used the most. The review of the available literature and relevant research found that assistance dogs have an extremely positive impact on the mental health of people with disabilities, contributing to a higher level of self-confidence and independence and that their presence greatly facilitates their daily functioning and coping with the challenges they face. However, although the significant benefits of this approach and animal-assisted therapies have been confirmed, very few people with disabilities have an assistance dog. Also, even though research related to the topic of this paper, there are not many relevant sources available so further research conduct are necessary to define different models of support adjusted to the specific needs of the beneficiary, as well as to sensitize the wider social environment about the need to secure resources that would enable more frequent and effective use of assistance dogs in the framework of complex education and rehabilitation of people with disabilities. |
