Equine-assisted interventions for veterans with service-related health conditions: a systematic mapping review

Kinney, Adam R.; Eakman, Aaron M.; Lassell, Rebecca; Wood, Wendy

doi:10.1186/s40779-019-0217-6

Cited by 13 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 64 publications

(123 reference statements)

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“…Currently, there are ten studies in the literature describing the utilization of some form of EAAT for Veterans with PTSD (Table 1) 26,54–62 and one single-subject case study. 63 There is also a review by Kinney and colleagues 28 as well as three reports of EAAT for Veterans that do not provide diagnoses. 25,64,65 Among the studies of PTSD, only two of these 55,57 have a control group and only one 57 is a randomized trial.…”

Section: Current State Of the Fieldmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…23 Kinney and colleagues concluded that EAAT targeting psychosocial outcomes among Veterans were found to be promising and that continued scientific investigation is warranted to establish their efficacy. 28 However, these authors also pointed out the significant gaps in the literature will need to be addressed to move the field forward. This paper provides an overview of the current state of using EAAT for Veterans with PTSD and outlines roadmap to guide future investigations and development of the field.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Equine-Assisted Activities and Therapies for Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Current State, Challenges and Future Directions

et al. 2021

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Posttraumatic stress disorder is common among military Veterans. While effective treatments exist, many Veterans either do not engage in treatment or fail to achieve full remission. Thus, there is a need to develop adjunctive complementary interventions to enhance treatment engagement and/or response. Equine-assisted activities and therapies (EAAT) are one category of animal assisted interventions that might serve this function. The aim of this article is to review the current state and challenges regarding the use of EAAT for Veterans with PTSD and provide a roadmap to move the field forward. EAAT hold promise as adjunctive complementary interventions for symptom reduction among Veterans with PTSD. Additionally, there is evidence that these approaches may enhance wellbeing in this population. At this time, many gaps in the literature exist and rigorous randomized controlled trials are needed before definitive conclusions can be drawn. The authors of this work provide recommendations as a roadmap to move the field forward. These include standardizing the EAAT nomenclature, focusing mechanism of action studies on the human-horse bond using biological metrics and using a standardized intervention model across studies.

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Section: Current State Of the Fieldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Equine-Assisted Activities and Therapies for Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Current State, Challenges and Future Directions

et al. 2021

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“…Review work found EAA/T for the civilian population with diseases and disorders that often also affect war veterans have shown promising results suggesting that they can bring similar benefits also among war veterans. The aim of this review was to describe the literature published so far on EAA/T in relation to war veterans (Kinney et al, 2019). Searched works published between 1980 and 2017 with 3336 unique articles.…”

Section: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (Ptsd)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies that evaluated DSM-5-compliant parameters showed positive results, with one of nine results reflecting a statistically significant reduction in PTSD symptoms. The remaining eight DSM-5-compliant results were considered promising (Kinney et al, 2019).…”

Section: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (Ptsd)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Effectiveness of Equine Assisted Activities or Therapies in relation to mental illness and mental disorders - a review

Bator

Jańczyk

Samek

et al. 2020

J Educ Health Sport

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Introduction and purpose: the Terminology Guidelines of the American Hippotherapy Association defines Equine Assisted Activities or Therapies (EAA/T) as a collection of different forms of contact between man and horse. EAA/T have become increasingly common interventions in the last decade, demonstrating therapeutic benefits in various areas of mental health. The aim of this report is to identify the forms and programmes of EAA/T that are used and to summarise and assess the latest available evidences of their clinical effectiveness in the treatment of symptoms of mental illness and disorders such as autism spectrum disorders,

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“…Through the mechanisms of fight-freeze-flight 11 individuals are encouraged to overcome their internalized emotions and feelings to successfully partner with the horse. Biopsychosocial effects of the horse's partnership include lower heartrate and respiration (bio-), increased mindfulness and self-esteem (psycho-), increased problem-solving skills, healthy boundaries, and empathy (social) 10,12,13,14 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mind Full or Mindful? A cohort student of Equine-Facilitated Therapy for Women Veterans

Vincent

Ballard

Farkas

2020

Preprint

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Background: The purpose of the evaluation was to understand, through participant self-report, the assets and challenges of partnering with equines for female Veterans seeking to increase skills in their mindfulness practice. Methods: Surveys were administered to participants to gain insight into self-identified mindfulness pre- and post-equine intervention. All measures were anonymous with only the date included to indicate the cohort. The study included three measures post-consent: The Toronto Mindfulness Scale, the Mindfulness Scale, and the Program Evaluation. Results: The Mindfulness Survey responses were averaged for pre- intervention, then for post- intervention. The pre- intervention survey responses ranged from 2.3 to 6.5 with a response range of 0 to 10 (M=4.59, SD=1.29). The post- intervention survey responses ranged from 6.7 to 9.2 (M=8.2, SD=0.69). A paired sample t-test found a significant difference in the scores from pre- intervention to post- intervention conditions (t=-9.43, df=13, p<.001). In the evaluations, participants shared that their favorite moments were (Q3): grooming and Breathe With (an activity to match breathing to the horse’s breathing). In the question asking what the participants will take away from the program (Q9) one participant shared, “The horses have taught me a lot about myself”; a common theme across respondents. Conclusion: The current study demonstrates that Veterans’ interactions with equines impacts the participants’ mindfulness throughout their experiences at Fieldstone Farm. The Veterans established a significant increase in their mindfulness scores post-equine intervention.

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Equine-assisted interventions for veterans with service-related health conditions: a systematic mapping review

Cited by 13 publications

References 64 publications

Equine-Assisted Activities and Therapies for Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Current State, Challenges and Future Directions

Equine-Assisted Activities and Therapies for Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Current State, Challenges and Future Directions

Effectiveness of Equine Assisted Activities or Therapies in relation to mental illness and mental disorders - a review

Mind Full or Mindful? A cohort student of Equine-Facilitated Therapy for Women Veterans

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