1. What is important in canine-assisted intervention teams? An investigation of canine-assisted intervention program online screening tools
- Author
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Elizabeth Kjellstrand Hartwig and John-Tyler Binfet
- Subjects
Medical education ,Intervention program ,genetic structures ,General Veterinary ,040301 veterinary sciences ,Best practice ,education ,0402 animal and dairy science ,Psychological intervention ,04 agricultural and veterinary sciences ,040201 dairy & animal science ,Popularity ,GeneralLiterature_MISCELLANEOUS ,0403 veterinary science ,Intervention (counseling) ,Screening tool ,Set (psychology) ,Psychology ,Screening procedures - Abstract
The purpose of this study was to conduct an investigation of online information and criteria for potential canine-assisted intervention (CAI) teams to better understand current standards set by CAI programs. The field of animal-assisted interventions is burgeoning with CAI programs having moved beyond canine intervention teams visiting clients in a hospital setting to teams providing support to a range of clients in a variety of settings. In response to this surge in popularity of CAI programs, there is a need to better understand how both handlers and canines are deemed suitable for CAI work. The aim of this study was to investigate published online material for volunteer handlers and their canines as a means of identifying commonly sought information, screening criteria, and canine skills assessed across agencies. Over 320 programs were identified and 64 programs were randomly chosen to be coded for the analysis. A frequency distribution was used to identify most and least frequently occurring screening information, criteria, and assessed canine skills presented by CAI programs. Results indicated that the most common information requested of potential teams was basic information (e.g., human and canine name, canine breed), and the most frequently required criteria for potential teams included the team evaluation, canine age, and vaccine status. Our outcomes also identified the most commonly listed canine skills that are assessed in a team evaluation: accepting a friendly stranger, down, sit, and stay on cue, and reaction to a neutral dog. We found that requirements for handlers, such as handler skills, previous training, background checks, and ongoing monitoring, were lacking. Based on these findings, the authors recommend best practices for CAI program online screening. The findings from this study contribute to the emerging literature on CAI program screening procedures and hold implications for research involving CAI teams.
- Published
- 2019
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