Page 51 - JSOM Winter 2017

Staff Attitudes Regarding the Impact of a Therapy Dog Program
on Military Behavioral Health Patients

1
Sara M. Brisson, BA *; Anthony H. Dekker, DO 2

ABSTRACT
Background: Human–animal interactions in the form of ani- social support because their pets helped them manage their
mal-assisted therapy (AAT) have become common in both ci- feelings, distract from their symptoms, and provided encour-
vilian and military healthcare facilities. Evidence supports AAT agement for daily activity. 9,10
as a beneficial therapeutic alternative for patients with physi-
cal disabilities and psychological disorders. Few studies have There is also a long history of AAT within US military health-
been conducted in the civilian healthcare setting to evaluate care facilities. The US military first introduced the use of
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staff attitudes regarding the impact of an AAT program on be- dogs as a therapeutic intervention with psychiatric patients
havioral health (BH) patients. To our knowledge, no research in 1919 at St Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington, DC. Since
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has examined staff attitudes on the impact and effectiveness that time, the popularity of AAT in the military as a treat-
of AAT on active-duty Servicemembers in a BH program at ment intervention has continued to increase. The use of AAT
a military facility. Methods: At the completion of a year-long is particularly common among physically injured Service-
AAT dog program and after institutional review board exemp- members and Servicemembers with psychological disorders,
tion, an anonymous, six-question survey was used to examine such as posttraumatic stress disorder. Although there have
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staff attitudes (n = 29) regarding the impact and continuation been some similar studies that have evaluated the attitudes of
of the program with military BH patients. Results: Most staff mental health professionals toward the knowledge and use of
members (86%) believed the AAT dog program had a positive AAT interventions in civilian and military settings, to our
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impact on the BH patients, including improved patient mood, knowledge, there has been no previous research evaluating be-
greater patient relaxation, improved patient attitude toward havioral health (BH) staff attitudes regarding the impact of
therapy, and increased social interactions among patients. All an AAT dog program on military patients with BH diagnoses.
the staff reported a desire to continue the program at the mili- Moody et al. evaluated attitudes about an AAT dog program
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tary facility. Conclusion: Most BH staff thought the year-long on a civilian pediatric ward. The staff felt the program effec-
AAT dog program had a positive impact on patients. All staff tively distracted children from their illnesses, relaxed the chil-
supported continuation of the program. dren, and made the ward a genuinely happier place for the
children and the staff. There does not appear to be any simi-
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Keywords: animal-assisted therapy; therapy dog; military; lar research from military healthcare facilities. The purpose of
behavioral health; staff attitudes this study was to determine the attitudes of BH staff members
regarding the impact of an AAT dog program on military BH
patients and whether the program should be continued.
Introduction
Methods
The first documented civilian use of animal-assisted therapy
(AAT) occurred in 1792, when the Quakers used farm animals After receiving institutional review board exemption, a highly
as a therapeutic intervention for psychiatric patients in a men- trained therapy dog was introduced into a military BH inpa-
1
tal health institution. Over the past two decades, the use of tient and outpatient psychiatric unit in the summer of 2012.
human–animal interactions in therapy, education, and health- The service dog participated regularly in individual and group
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care has markedly increased in the United States. The thera- counseling sessions with active-duty Servicemembers as well
peutic value of human–animal interactions, which includes as during recreational activities and activities of daily living
AAT, animal-assisted activities, and general animal interac- (Figure 1). At the completion of 1 year of patient interaction
tions, has been widely recognized and accepted because of the with the therapy dog 2–3 days per week, an anonymous, six-
reported physiological, psychological, and social benefits. question survey was administered to BH staff to determine at-
2–5
Benefits include decreases in blood pressure and pulse ; de- titudes regarding the impact of the program on the patients
6,7
creases in stress, anxiety, depression, and other mood disor- (Figure 2). The staff was able to express their assessment re-
ders 5,6,8 ; and improved social interactions and relations. In garding the impact of the program as positive, negative, or
2,5
previous studies, individuals diagnosed with a severe mental neither. They also could choose one or more examples of eight
illness reported their pets were their primary and most valued possible positive effects or five possible negative effects, as
*Address correspondence to brisson@hartford.edu
1 Ms Brisson was with Community House Mental Health Agency, Seattle, WA, and is currently with the Graduate Institute of Professional Psy-
2
chology (GIPP), University of Hartford. Dr Dekker is with Northern Arizona Veterans Administration Healthcare System, Prescott, AZ.
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