Defining Terms Used for Animals Working in Support Roles for People with Support Needs (original) (raw)
Related papers
Recognizing Animals as an Important Part of Helping
Critical Social Work
The beneficial role of companion animals on human health and wellbeing across the life span is well documented in the rapidly expanding multi disciplinary body of literature known as human animal interactions (HAI). Social workers practice at the interface of people and their diverse environments. The presence of human animal bonds (HAB) within client systems, between people and companion animals in particular, are increasingly acknowledged and valued by social workers. Additionally, some social workers incorporate animals in their practice through animal assisted interventions (AAI). However, there is a paucity of empirical literature on social workers’ knowledge about and experiences with the inclusion of animals. We conducted a survey across three prairie provinces in Canada, replicating a study that was first implemented nationwide in the U.S. and later in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. The survey explored social workers’ knowledge of HAI in social work. The results, simi...
The Welfare of Animals in Animal-Assisted Interventions
2021
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Dedication for Jose M Peralta To Amaya and Ana, who have always stood behind me and unwaveringly supported me through the pursuit of this and many other fun dreams and interesting projects. To my parents who, by their example, always pointed me in the right direction. Dedication for Aubrey H Fine To my wife, Nya A remarkable human being, A caring and loving wife, mother, and grandmother And a wonderful companion in life. The best is yet to be.. .. And To all my Companion Animals Over the Years This book is a tribute to your lives. You have inspired me to assure that all therapy animals' well-being must be prioritized and greatly appreciated. Foreword Some years ago I attended a meeting on animal-assisted therapy held in a basement room that could be reached by an escalator. Naturally, many therapy dogs were in attendance, along with their respective humans. However, some of the well-shod two-legged participants seemed not to realize that barefooted four-legged participants might be terrified of stepping onto the moving, uneven, metallic surface of an escalator with all its potential to pinch soft foot pads. This experience told me that even among people who are closely connected to animals and care deeply about them, knowledge about the animals' welfare cannot be taken for granted. This new book provides practitioners of animal-assisted interventions with a systematic examination of animal welfare and an introduction to the field of animal welfare science. To date, much of that science has been focused on animals in institutionalized settings such as farms, laboratories, and zoos. This book shows how scientific thinking about animal welfare is relevant and important for the very different issues that arise in animal-assisted interventions. Some of the themes that emerge in the book are ones that have been emphasized only recently in animal welfare research. One is the "human dimension" of animal welfare. For decades, research was strongly focused on how animals are influenced by their surroundingspen size, air quality, enrichment devices, and so on. But thanks to a few pioneers, we realize that animal welfare also depends strongly on the skill, knowledge, and attitudes of the people providing care (e.g., Hemsworth and Coleman 2011; Cole and Fraser 2018). This point may be especially true in animalassisted interventions where human involvement is so prominent and often so complex. The book also has deep resonance with the theme of "One Welfare"a term that is now being used to emphasize that the welfare of people and the welfare of animals are closely connected and that both depend on the integrity of the environments that we share (Garcia Pinillos et al. 2016). A One-Welfare lens helps us re-focus many animal welfare issues. The hoarding of animals is now recognized as caused by a distinct mental illness, and successful intervention requires animal protectionists and mental health services to work together. The neglect of animals is often caused by declining health, financial difficulties, or dementia on the part of the person responsible, and the solution requires that we attend to the welfare of all parties. And environmental disturbances such as climate change pose a great challenge to both human and animal welfare. A One-Welfare lens is clearly important for animalvii assisted interventions, causing us to ask what knowledge, what training methods, and what environmental features lead to good outcomes for both the people and the animals. Experience in animal-assisted interventions also has the potential to expand our basic understanding of animals and animal welfare. A lot of research follows an experimental model where, for example, groups of animals receive different treatments and the group responses are then compared statistically. Powerful as this method is for testing hypotheses, we can gain a different kind of understanding of animals by attending to them as individuals (Fraser 2009). A classic example was the early research on chimpanzees by Jane Goodall. She did not focus only on average measurements but also saw the animals as individuals with different personalities and life histories. This led to a different kind of understandinga more intuitive understandingwhich, although fallible like all human understanding, suggested a rich breadth of possibilities such as cooperation among animals, planning, tool use, and grief that might then be studied and tested in more systematic ways (Goodall 1971). In a similar way, many horse trainers, dog handlers, and others who have close, one-on-one involvement with animals have the potentialif they are perceptive and empatheticto lead animal welfare science in new directions. As just one example, a therapist who did horse-based therapy with emotionally disturbed children once commented to me that in her experience horses that had been rescued from abusive situations seemed more tolerant, perhaps even empathetic, when working with children who made sudden, uncoordinated movements. This suggests a whole realm of researchable questions about "tolerance" and "empathy" in animals, whether and how these are shown by a given species, and how they are influenced by early experience. Thoughtful people who are involved in animal-assisted interventions recognize that human welfare matters, that animal welfare matters, and that the two are closely connected. This book is a great starting point for putting that recognition on a systematic footing.
Ensminger, J., and Breitkopf, F. (2010). Evolving Functions of Service and Therapy Animals and the Implications for Public Accommodation Access Rules. Journal of Animal Law, 6, 1-50. The proliferation of service dog types, beyond dogs serving people who are blind, deaf, or mobility impaired, has necessarily resulted in added complexity in the interpretation of the statutes and regulations that apply to these dogs and their handlers. The Departments of Justice, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, along with some states, have in recent years also issued or proposed rules taking into account dogs whose services relate to autism, post-traumatic stress disorder, cognitive disabilities, and other conditions, yet the rules of the various agencies and states are increasingly inconsistent, and the same terms may have different meanings for businesses, airlines, and for different kinds of housing accommodations. The authors describe the issues and recommend ways to reduce the confusion. Author (JE) note (2015): This article was written six years ago, prior to many changes in the rules regarding service animals, and is conspicuously, almost embarrassingly, out of date. I would no longer argue for some of the positions we take in it. Nevertheless, our argument for increased uniformity across federal and state agencies regarding definitions, access rules, and other issues concerning service animals has taken on current relevance with the Department of Transportation acknowledging that the difference between its regulatory definition of “service animal” and that in Department of Justice may be causing problems. (Federal Register, December 7, 2015)
Paving the Path Toward Retirement for Assistance Animals: Transitioning Lives
Frontiers in Veterinary Science
Assistance animals play significant roles in human therapy and well-being and represent a rapidly growing demographic of animals in society. Most research in the field of assistance animals has been focused on the effect of these animals on people. Only recently has there been a growing interest in the welfare and well-being of these animals and the effect of the work on the animals themselves. The concept of retirement, or withdrawing the animal from its working life, is an important welfare consideration that has received minimal discussion in the scientific literature. The notion of retirement is typically regarded as a reward earned after a lifetime of work, but this inevitable phase of an animal's working life has positive and negative implications for both animal and handler. Some of these implications include recognizing the emotional impact of this life-altering event on both animal and handler. The decisions of when and how to appropriately retire an animal are typically made at the discretion of the assistance animal agencies and handlers, but standard evidence-based guidelines for the proper retirement of assistance animals are currently unavailable. This review will provide considerations and recommendations for the retirement that assistance animals deserve.
Human–Animal Relationships and Social Work: Opportunities Beyond the Veterinary Environment
Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal
A species-spanning approach that incorporates clients' relationships with their companion animals into family genograms, schools of social work curricula, continuing education, interviews, assessments, and interventions offers increased career opportunities, professional and personal growth and development, and a more comprehensive resolution of clients' issues, social justice concerns, and the prevention of family violence. This article identifies six reasons why social workers should be cognizant of human-animal relationships and introduces nine ways, with action steps, in which social workers can include these relationships into training and practice outside the more developed field of veterinary social work. These venues include: agencies working in child protection and child sexual abuse; children's advocacy centers and courthouse facility dogs; animal shelters; domestic violence shelters; public policy advocacy; clinical practice; agencies working with older and disabled populations; veterinary sentinels for intimate partner violence; and pet support services for homeless populations. Such attention to the human-animal bond can utilize social workers' problem-solving skills to improve delivery of services, identify clients' risk and resiliency factors, enhance social and environmental justice, expand academic inquiry, and increase attention to all of the vulnerable members of families and communities.
The Incorporation of Animal-Assisted Interventions in Social Work Education
Journal of Family Social Work, 2005
Successful social work practice requires orientation to diverse social and cultural characteristics which structure the framework for our communities and families. This paper explores the necessity of incorporating the connection between people and non-human relationships in our understanding of social support systems. Specifically, we examine our relationships with animals in the understanding of these social networks and in turn, the readiness of social work education to support this valuable and prominent feature of the modern family system. In addition, this paper will highlight the congruence between the study of the human-animal bond and the social work curriculum. [Article copies
Animals and social work: An emerging field of practice for Aotearoa New Zealand
Aotearoa new Zealand Social Work, 2015
Social work is traditionally human-centered in practice, even though for many the bond between humans and animals is the most fundamental of daily-lived experiences. The intent of this paper is to reflect on the predominant humanistic basis of social work and to consider the growing evidence for developing a wider perspective to incorporate the human-animal connection into social work practice. Joanne Emmens (2007:9) observes that the human-animal bond is considered by some as '…too mainstream (in the sense of being lightweight, cliché or sentimental), or as not mainstream enough…as substantial material worthy of study.' In this article we argue that the human-animal bond is neither sentimental nor fringe and that our attitudes toward this relationship is based on a construction of western thought. To support this we offer a review of literature that provides evidence of good practice that can move social work beyond a purely humanistic approach to a more holistic view resulting in a more comprehensive toolkit for practice. We explore the literature and practice surrounding the place of animals in social work, both in New Zealand and internationally. In addition, we identify some of the ways the human-animal bond is currently utilised in rehabilitation, therapy, as animal assistants and as an indicator of domestic violence within New Zealand. We argue that this area of research and practice is highly relevant for social work as evidence-based practice. The paper concludes by offering some suggestions for discussion within the social work profession, and considerations for social work educators, researchers and theorists.
Animal welfare science and anthrozoology
Both animal welfare science and anthrozoology have active researchers from several different academic disciplines. Some started in animal behaviour research, as I did, whilst others have come from psychology, physiology, practical veterinary or medical work, social science etc. All have been influenced by the writings of philosophers about attitudes to animals and most analyse both data and ideas rigorously. For many people, such as the members of the research group that I started in Cambridge Veterinary School in 1986, the motivation for doing such work has been to understand the biology better and to be able to help to improve the welfare of animals and the benefits that people get from interactions with companion animals. During the last 24 years there has been a great increase in public interest in the area. Our Centre for Animal Welfare and Anthrozoology has been much in demand from students and from researchers around the world for lectures and courses. Animals have always had good or poor welfare and there have always been people who cared for and considered the welfare of animals but animal welfare as a scientific discipline has emerged in the last thirty years. It now flourishes because of public concern. Animal health has been studied for much longer and laws protecting animals have existed in Europe for two hundred years. Health is an important part of the wider concept of welfare and concerns how well individuals cope with pathology while welfare refers to coping with the environment as a whole. The change that started to occur in the 1980s was from a focus on human actions to protect animals, to the animals themselves as individuals, their biological functioning and how to provide for their needs. Consideration of this functioning had to include the brain of animals and how it controls behaviour, physiology and defences against disease. Animals have a range of needs and those of each species can be studied in carefully controlled investigations. The first step in any report, legislation or code of practice is to list the needs of the animals involved. Hence the concept of needs is included in modern legislation and has replaced the earlier and less precise list of freedoms that animals should have.
Recommendations for uniform terminology in animal-assisted services (AAS
Through the years, the range of services involving animals benefiting people, often described as "animal-assisted interventions" (AAIs), has been plagued with confusing and inconsistent taxonomy, terminology, and definitions. This has caused difficulties for the delineation of roles of service providers, for the recipients of services, as well as for the preparation, training, and expectations of the animals that work in different roles. It can be argued that these difficulties have compromised the development of the field in terms of establishing agreed standards of practice, qualifications, and competencies and adopting good animal welfare practices. It has also likely limited the base of evidence, as search terms used to access studies are not consistent, and study protocols are difficult to compare, lacking uniformity in terminology. Additionally, the current terminology cannot accommodate the expansion and diversification of programs in recent years, which is likely to continue as the field evolves. Establishing internationally agreed upon uniform taxonomy, terminology, and definitions is crucial to more accurately reflect the key features of different approaches, to define the scope and competencies for different service providers and their animals, to provide transparency about services for recipients, and to ensure the appropriate preparation, training, and support of the animals that work with them. The recommendations in this article are the result of an international work group that convened over the course of two years. The umbrella term animal-assisted services (AAS) is proposed, defined as services that are facilitated, guided or mediated by a health or human service provider or educator, who works with and maintains the welfare of a specially alongside a specially qualifying animal to provide therapeutic, educational, supportive and/or ameliorative processes aimed at enhancing the well-being of humans. AAS are further categorized into three main areas: treatment, education, and support programs. A recommendation for provider-specific terminology is also suggested. The aim of these proposals is to set clear expectations and boundaries for each specialty of practice, without compromising the richness and diversity of each approach. The adoption of this new umbrella term and its categories is intended to improve clarity for all involved in the receipt and delivery of services, as well as for those who study their effects.