Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.) - Simon Fraser University, 2006. / Theses (Faculty of Education) / Simon Fraser University. Also issued in digital format and available on the World Wide Web.

This study served as a preliminary investigation of the effectiveness of an understudied complementary (to traditional treatment approaches) intervention for military related PTSD. Specifically, the utilization of a nonprofit organization’s intensive three-week training program and use of psychiatric service dogs (PSDs) for PTSD and associated symptom amelioration. The sample included two separate cohorts of military veterans (n = 7 and n = 5) with prior diagnoses of PTSD. Participants completed a battery of self-report measures assessing PTSD and related symptoms, depression, perception of social support, anger, and overall quality of life. Participants also completed an attention bias task that was utilized to objectively assess changes in attentional bias to threat. Participants completed the measures one month prior to the training (baseline), at arrival to the training site, at the end of each week of the training, and at one and six month follow-up. Results indicated that, for all participants, there was a statistically significant decrease in PTSD and depression symptoms. In addition, for most participants, these decreases were both clinically significant and reliable. Further, participants reported significant reductions in anger and improvement in perceived social support and quality of life. Data from the attentional bias task was inconclusive. Limitations of the study include a lack of control group and small sample size. Despite this, the findings of this study indicate that utilizing PSDs as a complementary treatment for PTSD could yield beneficial results in terms of symptom amelioration and improvement to overall quality of life for veterans suffering from PTSD.

Background: Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characteristically deficient in social awareness and communication skills, while displaying repetitive behaviours. Because of this, integration of individuals with ASD into society is often difficult as people do not know how to respond to their atypical behaviour. Particularly in Asian cultures, this vulnerable group is often subjected to stigmatization. However, recent literature has highlighted some benefits of assistive animal intervention (AAI) for individuals with ASD, which may improve their ability for social interaction. This review examines the effects of AAI in terms of service dogs for individuals with ASD. Methods: Journal articles were identified through a systematic review on psycINFO, Pubmed, Scholars Portal and Web of Knowledge. Additional searches were conducted for inclusion of grey literature and doctoral theses in the review. Results: Of the 170 studies initially found, 7 were selected; 3 cohort studies, 3 case-control studies, and 1 cross-sectional study. Reported outcomes included increased social reciprocity, decreased behavioural problems and decreased stress in individuals with ASD. Despite these positive outcomes, they should be taken with caution, as the designs of the seven studies included in this review show methodological weaknesses, such as small sample sizes and possible information bias from data collection. Conclusions: Additional research focused on varying age groups with ASD, longitudinal studies and standardized outcome measures are required for further research. What this review suggests though is that there is a need to address social services gaps for various disability groups, not just for those with ASD. Some legislative measures are in place in Hong Kong to support the accessibility of assistance dogs in public; however, since there are so few in Hong Kong, their exposure is not enough to gain widespread acceptance. Expansion of assistance dog services to serve other disability groups may help to enhance their quality of life. / published_or_final_version / Public Health / Master / Master of Public Health

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, 2008. / Title from screen (viewed on April 23, 2008). School of Nursing, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Advisor(s): Melinda M. Swenson, Joan K. Austin, Sharon L. Sims, John McGrew. Includes vitae. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 142-161).

<p> </p> <p>Though literature on the influence and efficacy of service dogs as a complementary and integrative health intervention option for a variety of needs (e.g., medical, mobility, psychiatric) continues to emerge, a focus on how service dogs are integrated into the everyday lives of their handlers remains understudied. This dissertation offers new insights to this previously understudied area by first comparing the expectations versus lived experiences of veteran service dog handlers with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and then focusing in on the influence of service dogs beyond the handler, looking at the influence of service dogs on spouses, family members and caregivers. Using a rigorous multi-modal approach, both qualitative and quantitative insights emerge regarding the integration of a service dog for the handler and their families. Findings suggest that understanding the similarities and differences between expectations and experiences may help to inform practitioners and interested recipients about the service dog intervention and help to set realistic expectations about the integration process. Additionally, in populations of psychiatric assistance dogs for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and in populations of mobility and medical alert assistance dogs, findings suggest that the benefits and challenges of the intervention reach beyond the service dog recipient and handler, extending to affect the wellbeing of their families and caregivers. Researchers and practitioners should work together to develop programs that integrate these findings to provide family-focused educational interventions where both positive and negative experiences are shared alongside strategies to overcome the challenges associated with integrating a service dog into a home prior to pairing. Providing this opportunity enables setting realistic expectations for this complementary and integrative intervention option which in turn may affect its efficacy and success throughout and beyond the integration process. </p>

Bakgrund: Diabetes är en kronisk sjukdom som kräver ett stort ansvarstagande och en god hälsolitteracitet från den drabbade. Idag finns många hjälpmedel för att hantera sjukdomen. Hundar har länge hjälpt människan på olika sätt och har visat sig ha stor potential när det kommer till stöttning vid hantering av olika kroniska sjukdomar eller funktionsnedsättningar. Syfte: Syftet med litteraturstudien var att belysa hundars förmåga att förbättra sjukdomshanteringen för personer med diabetes mellitus. Metod: Studien var en litteraturstudie grundad av nio vetenskapliga artiklar som bearbetades genom en induktiv ansats. Resultat: Upplevelsen av att ha en hund med förmågan att detektera variationer i blodsockernivåer är generellt positiv. Många rapporterar att förekomsten av hypo- respektive hyperglykemiska episoder minskat markant sedan hundens entré. Studier som utgår från konkreta data visade dock att hundens förmåga var ytterst individuell och att hundarnas förmåga i jämförelse med en blodsockersensor brister för att en generell tolkning av hundens förmåga ska kunna göras. Konklusion: Genom att belysa den stora skillnaden mellan hundägarnas uppfattning av hundens förmåga och den mer kliniska synen på hundens förmåga, görs det tydligt att mer forskning behövs inom området för att en generell rekommendation av assistanshundar vid diabetes ska kunna etableras. / Background: Diabetes is a chronic disease that requires a lot of responsibility and health literacy from the patient. Today there are many ways to handle diabetes. Dogs has helped mankind in various ways for a long time and have proven great potential in supporting humans with different kinds of illnesses. Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate dogs ability to improve disease management for people with diabetes mellitus. Method: The study was a literature study based on nine scientific articles that were processed with an inductive approach. Results: Peoples experiences of owning a dog to handle their diabetes was in general positive. Many reported that events of hypo- or hyperglycemia had decreased since the dog entered their life. However, studies based on concrete data show that the dogs ability to warn their owner was highly individual and in comparison to a blood glucose monitor the dogs ability was hard to evaluate. Conclusion: By illustrating the difference between owners perceptions of the dogs ability and the clinical evidence of the dogs ability, it remains clear that it needs more research within the area before a general recommendation of dogs to help assist in diabetes can be established.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The focus of this qualitative descriptive study is the experience of physically disabled young people as they transition into adulthood while living with a service dog. The cornerstone of young adulthood is transition. For any young adult leaving home, the transition involves inter- and intra-personal changes that affect future well-being. Unfortunately, the majority of young adults with congenital disabilities are less likely to be fully employed and to live independently than their non-disabled peers. To date, very little research about living with a disability exists from the point of view of young adults. Even fewer qualitative research studies exist that focus on service dog teams. This research report will add to the body of nursing knowledge about people with disabilities and their experience of transition in the areas of health, work/school, relationships and identity. The findings result from descriptive analysis of interviews with four young adults and one parent. Using qualitative descriptive methods, the researcher identified three themes that defined the experience of transition. It’s different now contained stories regarding life before and after obtaining the service dog. This theme included elements of personality development similar to any young adult in transition, such as identifying “who I am now.” Going places was the most personal theme, describing the social implications of going or not going places and the environmental and personal barriers related to learning to drive. Calling the shots centered on the ability to make choices for themselves and the dog, as well as to participate in age appropriate milestones, such as attending college and living away from home. The findings of this study will be useful to professionals who place service dogs with persons with disabilities, rehabilitation specialists who desire appropriate interventions to facilitate transitions, and nurse researchers and clinicians who desire to understand the bond between animals and human beings.

La nutrition est un élément clé du maintien de la performance opérationnelle chez le chien de service, lequel fait souvent face à des périodes de travail intense suivies de périodes de récupération de courte durée, l’enchaînement des efforts se répétant fréquemment sur plusieurs jours. Afin d’optimiser la performance, d’éviter l’émergence de pathologies liées à l’effort physique et aux contraintes mentales, et d’améliorer la récupération, l’alimentation est maintenant intégrée de manière prépondérante dans la préparation des athlètes de haut niveau que sont ces chiens. Les objectifs de ce travail furent de : (1) concevoir un supplément nutritionnel de mise/maintien en condition et en étudier les impacts biologiques lorsqu’il est distribué avant et pendant l’effort physique, en s’intéressant plus particulièrement à son adaptation au métabolisme spécifique de l’effort demandé ; (2) concevoir un supplément nutritionnel de récupération et en étudier les impacts biologiques lorsque distribué après l’effort physique en s’axant sur les capacités de récupération à court terme. Le premier supplément développé dans cette thèse se présente sous forme extrudée spécialement conçu, et contenant des acides gras à chaînes courtes et moyennes, associés à un complexe antioxydant. Distribué une heure avant, et au bout de vingt minutes d’effort dans un protocole de course en continu chez le chien de recherche de personnes, il a généré une amélioration de la réponse de l’organisme à l’exercice via un impact positif sur les paramètres physiologiques cardiovasculaires, l’augmentation des triglycérides circulants en début d’effort, et la moindre expression plasmatique de marqueurs pro-inflammatoires et du stress oxydatif dans le groupe supplémenté. Notre deuxième étude, portant sur une supplémentation post-effort chez le chien militaire, a pour objectif d’observer l’impact d’un mélange de maltodextrines (1,5g/kg de poids corporel) et protéines auparavant sélectionnée (0,3g/kg de poids corporel) distribué immédiatement après effort, durant trois périodes d’exercice intense séparées par une heure de repos au cours d’une même journée. Nos résultats montrent une moindre augmentation plasmatique des marqueurs de l’inflammation et des témoins de lésions musculaires dans le groupe supplémenté. Des études complémentaires sont indispensables à envisager pour adapter la supplémentation à chaque typologie d’effort (endurance, mixte, résistance), en testant différents apports qualitatifs et quantitatifs. Elles permettront également de préciser les moments optimaux de distribution de celle-ci (prise unique ou fractionné, délai par rapport à l’effort), et de l’adapter aux conditions environnementales (en particulier les climats chauds, sources de nombreux problèmes chez les chiens de service projetés en opérations extérieures). / Nutrition is a key point in order to maintain performance during operationnal missions in the service dog, who often faces intense periods of work, followed by short resting periods, with a high number of working periods during several consecutive days. To optimise performance, reduce pathologies related to an intense physical exercise and mental stress and improve recovery, nutrition is now considered as one of the most important point in those elite athletes. This work objective were : (1) to develop a nutritionnal supplementation to set and maintain physical conditions when distributed before and during physical exercise, focusing our approach on the necessary adaptation to the specific metabolism involved during the exercise ; (2) to develop a nutritionnal supplementation for the recovery period, distributed just after the exercise and study the consequences of its distribution on biological markers during short term recovery period. The first supplement develop in this work contain short and medium chains fatty acids associated with an antioxidant complex. Given one hour before the work, and after a twenty minutes run during a continuous running test performed on search and rescue dogs, this supplement shows positive impacts on cardiovascular parameters, an increase of triglycerids at the onset of exercise, a reduction of plasmatic expression of proinflammatory and oxidative stress markers in the supplemented group. Our second study focusses on postexercise nutritionnal supplementation in the military dog, in order to observe impacts on a mix of maltodextrins (1.5g/kg body weight) and proteins (0.3g/kg body weight) provided just after the exercise, during three periodsof intense exercise separated by one hour rest periods during a single day. Our results include a reduction of plasmatic inflammatory markers production and of mucular lesions markers in the supplemented group. Further studies are required in order to adapt nutitionnal supplementation to each type of exercise (endurance, mix, resistance), by testing different qualitative and quantitative inputs. They will also permit to precise optimal timing for its distribution (single or fractionned inputs, timing before or after the exercise), and to adapt it to environmental conditions (especially hot climate, that is a cause of numerous problems for service dogs sent to oversees operations).

<p> There has been substantial growth in recent decades in the variety and popularity of roles for dogs assisting humans in professional therapeutic partnerships. Simultaneously, increasingly rigorous research has repeatedly demonstrated the effects of professional human-canine partnerships in remedying important issues of public health among several at-risk populations. Yet, despite these areas of growth, mechanisms of action and predictors of efficacy in the field of human-animal interaction (HAI) remain poorly understood, and the role of human diversity has been rarely discussed. Thus, the present dissertation examines potential mechanisms and diverse predictors in two distinct samples of professional human-canine partnerships, while building the impetus to explore diversity in the HAI field as a whole. For the first three studies (Chapters 2-4), the selected samples of professional human-canine partnerships include military veterans working with psychiatric service dogs to mediate their symptoms of PTSD and healthcare professionals in pediatric hospitals working with facility dogs to benefit their patients. Following the introduction in Chapter 1, the objective of Chapters 2-3 was to examine primary human outcomes in the selected professional canine partnerships. In a crosssectional study of N=198 military veterans with PTSD, Chapter 2 compared PTSD symptom severity between n=112 veterans with service dogs and n=86 veterans on the waitlist to receive service dogs in the future. Next, in a cross-sectional study of N=130 healthcare professionals in pediatric hospitals, Chapter 3 compared job-related well-being and mental health of n=65 professionals working with facility dogs to n=65 working without. Findings suggested benefits to the mental health and well-being of both military veterans with PTSD and pediatric healthcare professionals, which were significantly associated with their professional canine partnerships. Subsequently, the objective of Chapter 4 was to explore how variances within a specific professional canine partnership may suggest predictors and potential mechanisms for the observed human outcomes. Thus, in a longitudinal study of N=82 veterans with PTSD and their service dogs, Chapter 4 explored associations of veterans’ outcomes with veteran-service dog demographics and interactions. Results suggested components of the human-canine partnership which might explain observed human outcomes, including social connections, a calming influence, and strong humananimal bonds. </p>