The Effectiveness of Emotional Support Dogs on Veterans with Disabilities
Event Type
Presentation
Start Date
12-10-2017 9:00 AM
End Date
12-10-2017 12:00 PM
Description
There is a paucity of research about the effectiveness of emotional support dogs for veterans with disabilities. Many veterans returning home from the war have acquired multiple disabilities decreasing their success in community reintegration. There are a number of services for this population; unfortunately suicide remains a high risk for these individuals.
Recommended Citation
D'Amico, M., Chernekoff, R., & Kozee, N. (2017), The Effectiveness of Emotional Support Dogs on Veterans with Disabilities, Presentation, Third Annual Research Colloquium, https://nsuworks.nova.edu/ot_colloquium/third/events/8
The Effectiveness of Emotional Support Dogs on Veterans with Disabilities
There is a paucity of research about the effectiveness of emotional support dogs for veterans with disabilities. Many veterans returning home from the war have acquired multiple disabilities decreasing their success in community reintegration. There are a number of services for this population; unfortunately suicide remains a high risk for these individuals.
Comments
Methods: The researchers conducted a mixed method longitudinal pilot study looking at how emotion support dogsmay affect this population’s quality of lifeand occupational engagement. A 28- question survey was created measuring quality of life and occupation engagement. Surveys were administered; one pre emotional support dog with the 28-likert scale questions, and two subsequent surveys with three additional open-ended questions for 3 month and 6 months post emotional support dog.
Results: Two participants completed the pre and three month survey, one completed all three surveys, two males and one female age 18-73 with various disabilities. Findings indicated that overall the emotional support dogs provided a positive impact on all three veterans’ quality of life and an increase intheir participation in meaningful occupations.
Conclusion: There remains a need for further research on the role that emotional support dogs can play for veterans with disabilities.