Table 1.

Summary of policies for animal-assisted interventions programs in 45 hospitals and 45 eldercare facilities from nine regions of the United States.

Minimum requirements for animal-assisted interventions program	Hospitals, Number (%)	Eldercare facilities, Number (%)	% Facilities, Total	Hospital vs. Eldercare Chi-square (p-value)†
No requirements for documentation of animal health	2 (4%)	10 (22%)	13%	6.64 (0.01)
Verbal confirmation that animal was healthy	2 (4%)	10 (22%)	13%	6.64 (0.01)
Written confirmation that animal was healthy	7 (16%)	18 (40%)	28%	6.88 (0.009)
Meeting and written health report*	3 (7%)	3 (7%)	7%	0.00 (1.00)
Registered animals only**	23 (51%)	3 (7%)	29%	23.80 (<0.001)
Policy prohibiting all animals	8 (18%)	1 (2%)	10%	6.80 (0.009)

^*Administration required an initial meeting with animal and handler to assess appropriateness of behavior first-hand.

^**Animals were required to have an affiliation with a therapy animal organization. These were not restricted to any particular national, regional, or local organization affiliation.

^†Likelihood ratio chi-square test value and P-value for comparison of proportions between hospital policies and eldercare facility policies.