What’s Love Got to Do With It? Selecting Animals for Animal-Assisted Mental Health Interventions

MacNamara, Maureen; Moga, Jeannine; Pachel, Christopher

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-815395-6.00008-0

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…The specific nature of an AAI can contribute to, or alleviate, stress and the ability of a handler to detect it. The "Diamond Model" of AAI specifically provides for a handlers' involvement in a therapy interaction [37]. Model components include the dog, a handler, the clinician, and patient(s).…”

Section: Intervention Characteristics That Contribute To Missed Stress Signalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the Triangle model, which is often employed in outpatient psychotherapy, the clinician is responsible for the simultaneous well-being of both dog and client [37]. This arrangement requires increased vigilance on the part of the handler/therapist given that he or she must continuously monitor their dog and the client for signs of distress.…”

Section: Triangle Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Recognizing and Mitigating Canine Stress during Animal Assisted Interventions

Townsend

Gee

2021

Veterinary Sciences

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Animal-assisted Interventions (AAI) proliferated rapidly since clinicians and researchers first noted the positive effects animals have on people struggling with physical and mental health concerns. The intersection of AAI with the field of animal welfare evolved from considering animals’ basic needs, such as freedom from pain, to recognition that animals experience nuanced emotions. Current conceptualizations of the various roles of companion animals as an adjunct to treatments for humans emphasize not only the animals’ physical comfort and autonomy, but also their mental well-being and enjoyment of AAI activities. However, numerous challenges to effective monitoring of animals involved in AAI exist. This article focuses specifically on dogs, highlighting factors that may lead handlers and therapists to miss or ignore canine stress signals during human-animal interactions and offers strategies to recognize and ameliorate dogs’ distress more consistently. The primary goals of this discussion are to summarize the current thinking on canine well-being and to highlight practical applications of animal welfare principles in real-world AAI settings. The paper highlights contextual factors (e.g., physical setting, patient demand), human influences (e.g., desire to help), and intervention characteristics (e.g., presence or absence of a dog-specific advocate) that may promote or inhibit humans’ ability to advocate for therapy dogs during AAI activities. Deidentified examples of each of these factors are discussed, and recommendations are provided to mitigate factors that interfere with timely recognition and amelioration of canine distress.

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Section: Intervention Characteristics That Contribute To Missed Stress Signalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Triangle Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recognizing and Mitigating Canine Stress during Animal Assisted Interventions

Townsend

Gee

2021

Veterinary Sciences

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“…In the ideal practice of true AAT, the description of work and therapeutic goals should be specifically described and established beforehand, so an animal is selected only if it meets that job description [118]. This contrasts the typical practice of AAI, where the animal has already been screened and chosen simply because of availability.…”

Section: Advances In Aai Must Consider Animal Welfarementioning

confidence: 99%

The State of Animal-Assisted Interventions: Addressing the Contemporary Issues That Will Shape the Future

Fine

Beck

2019

IJERPH

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As the worldwide popularity of animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) increases, the field is quickly approaching a paradigm shift, adjusting its image to incorporate more evidence-based research and aligning its purpose for advancing a new future. Contemporary critical issues that confront the field today include, but are not limited, to research, animal welfare, practice guidelines, and public policy. This article will provide an overview of the history of AAI and the major milestones that the field has undergone. The current state of AAI research will be scrutinized, and the areas that warrant further study will be recommended. Special attention will be given to the current state of animal welfare in AAI, the research that has been done in the area, and practice guidelines that safeguard animal wellbeing. This article will then discuss how evidence-based research and animal welfare guidelines inform the development of comprehensive professional standards and influence changes in public policy regarding AAI. The authors’ perceptions for the field’s future trajectory will be presented, which will include solutions to move the field in the direction that best advances the human-animal bond in research, practice, and public perception.

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“…Indeed, the absence of official regulation in France leads to a heterogeneity of AAI [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ] as well as a variety of professionals who unofficially certify dogs. Therapy dog welfare in AAI is a currently concern because interactions with a variety of unfamiliar humans with sometimes unpredictable behavior, (a common occurred in AAI), are potentially stressful for dogs [ 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ]. However, there is currently little consensus regarding the consequences of such interventions on the dogs involved [ 12 ] although the integration of animals in AAI is only ethically justifiable if the animal also benefits from the interactions [ 31 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Handlers’ Representations on Therapy Dogs’ Welfare

Mignot

Luca

Servais

et al. 2022

Animals

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While research on the benefits of animal-assisted interventions is beginning to build a significant body of work, studies on the well-being of therapy dogs are still in their infancy. Since handlers are the people responsible for their therapy dog’s welfare, we interviewed 111 French handlers through an online questionnaire. Our results underlined that (i) therapy dogs’ welfare is multidimensional when physical and psychological welfare, a balance between work and dog life and the settings and interactions of sessions are all taken into consideration. (ii) The response of our handlers emphasized that considering therapy dog welfare is important for the quality and safety of AAI. (iii) Three categories of risks factors were highlighted: the spatio-temporal framework (planning and environment), the interactions with beneficiaries and the handler themselves. It is particularly important that handlers talk about the negative impact of interactions with beneficiaries since they are at the heart of AAI, however there are few studies focusing on interactions as a stressor for dogs in this practice. Moreover, since there is a potential for positive bias in the handlers’ representations, it is important that they be trained to identify and manage the stress in their dogs. Future research is particularly needed on the impact of interactions during sessions on therapy dog welfare.

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What’s Love Got to Do With It? Selecting Animals for Animal-Assisted Mental Health Interventions

Cited by 9 publications

References 20 publications

Recognizing and Mitigating Canine Stress during Animal Assisted Interventions

Recognizing and Mitigating Canine Stress during Animal Assisted Interventions

The State of Animal-Assisted Interventions: Addressing the Contemporary Issues That Will Shape the Future

Handlers’ Representations on Therapy Dogs’ Welfare

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