Everything you wanted to know about the animals assisted therapies, but were afraid to ask. Part I

I often hear that therapies with animals can be performed by this or that person or group and after getting in touch with them I see that they make everything but not therapy, because they forget that govern it and bases on which they are based. So I have asked bored a little, although I know that going I thank one day, and tell you all these things, or a few, surely you will be necessary if you want to implement a program of AAT (animal assisted therapy).

First  of all, keep this on mind: "the success or failure of an innovation in the organization is a consequence of the interaction between power and policy at many levels: individual, within the Organization, between organizations and the society." (Fost & Egri, 1991). You have to do many efforts to make such interaction encourages you. It's like juggling several balls, it is difficult but not impossible.

Do you know what is the difference between activities / therapies assisted with animals?

Animals Assisted therapy  (TAA) are interventions directed towards concrete objectives as an integral part of a rehabilitation process, through the interaction between animal and patient. These sessions should be directed by a therapist professional, which can be of the branch of psychology, education, physiotherapy, etc. The therapist is than fixed goals, guide the interaction between animal and patient, conducting an evaluation of the whole process and measuring the progress of the same.

Assisted activities with animals (AAA) are recreational activities, with a therapeutic effect but without concrete targets, in which people relate the animal to increase their quality of life. Anyone evaluate or measure the progress of the patient and they can be performed by any volunteer provided to take an animal.

So if I want to "do therapy", this should have some objective (what  do I want to get?); It has to be directed by a professional (good be a canine educator or a technician, animal-assisted therapy is not a therapist); There is an evaluation (what has changed with respect to prior to the AAT program?).

Have you've studied the factors that affect the organization to perform the AAT program?

Do you have management support?

Do you have the support of the CEO or Directors?

 Is there a staff to  support the idea?

Do you  have to hire new staff?

What are the issues concerning security and respectful treatment of animals?

What are the Issues about responsability?

How is the evaluated the efficacy of the program?

Is there a continuous assessment?

What do users think about the idea?

How can you find economical resources (costs)?

How can you control  infections?

Don't forget:

When you are thinking of the design of the program you have to think about both staff and users. You have to have both.

STAFF: trained, experienced and enthusiastic. University professionals, qualified personnel and volunteers.

USERS: Allergies and phobias. Past of animal abuse experiences. Polling the user about his opinion about the AAT.

Which animal should you choose?

You don’t need the same budget to a therapy with horses than one dog and of course is not the same a Chihuahua dog than a Boxer for therapy in penitentiary institutions. Choose well!

The Trojan horse: Economic efficiency.

Start your project gradually, use existing resources; seeks for foundational or corporative  support; charges a fee for service; search for donations and don't forget the sale of products (merchandising).

Responsibilities.

Each Member of the team must assume their responsibilities and in that sense, there is nothing better than an action protocol, IF a worker ignores the standard and don't know where to search, he or she will invent it and often is not the best solution to a problem.

Test day!: results.

What are the criteria to assess the results?

-Cost / benefit.

-Other more economic programs.

-Number of users of the service.

-  There are also other instruments to measure the effectiveness.

Remember to keep track of infections.

They are not common zoonoses (transmission of a disease from animals to man), but a veterinary health plan for animals involved in the program, it is mandatory!.

Meet some of the principles that govern the AAT.

1. All animals will be carefully selected.
2. At the time of recruitment of staff and users will be verified allergies, fear or aversion towards animals.
3. The rights of persons who do not wish to participate with animals are priority, keep clear exclusion zones for animals and be sure they will be respected.
4. Activities with animals must be integrated into the overall treatment plan, with specific objectives.
5. You will be monitored by the staff  those users with a history of animal abuse.
6.  Weekly work sessions must be documented.
7.  The animals will not work more than 5 hours a day.
8. The worker should remember that the use of an animal is not a panacea to work with a patient with problems.
9. The worker should strive to maintain the therapeutic component.

I will leave for the following entry concerning the evaluation of the programme. Anyway if there is somewhere you want to go into more depth you can ask me and I will do everything that is in my hand to clarify all your doubts. Remember that the important thing is to share knowledge...

Life mates: ADHD and dogs.

I won't go into detail about what  the attention Deficit Disorder with hyperactivity is, which commonly known because we heard about so many hyperactive children, since there is so much information at the internet just in case which you are interested and we also have our friend  Alma Dzib Goodin that can clarify many of your  doubts about this topic.

What I would like, before commenting the benefits of therapies with dogs for children with this disorder, it’s the injury by using negative labels on childhood. I don't want to deny the existence of this condition, it’s real at some cases, but I will say that when a label is accessible it is very easy to use it wrong.

Some decades ago children were "moved", "terrible", "playful"... now they are HYPERACTIVE. So, if you could have together my two small children and myself, you would say that all of us are hyperactive in your eyes.  But I think we must be cautious when it comes to diagnose anything labeled to that child for the rest of his life. And still, we must be clear not saying you “You are,” but “You have", a problem that has solutions and one of them is the dog-assisted therapies.

One of the characteristics of these children is that their behavior is random and dependent on the environment, comply with standards and refrain in certain behaviors, trouble that leads them to a situation of isolation with respect to their peers and with adults, which over time is possible to it have impact on their self-esteem. There are studies that demonstrates that these people, compared with their peers, frequently have behavioral problems, are less empathetic, less skilled socially and perceive the environment more negatively (Dodge, 1985).

Then, How can dog contribute? , why is valid in these cases a therapy with dogs?, why as a father/mother or educators should I invest time and money in a therapy dog? Maybe then I'll expose a few of many that will be useful and make you think.

- As you remember from the first post on this blog about Biophilia, the presence of a dog would have the ability to attract and keep the attention of the child or the child's: work attention.

- As the child cannot predict how the animal behave got an inhibition of behavior, working the IMPULSIVITY. What gives us a temporary space in which we can ask questions about the dog, so will also work the reflective thought.

- The way this children play is almost always aggressive. The presence of the dog will give children opportunity to work that aggression through care and affection for the animal.

- Children with ADHD tend to perceive their classmates, teachers and their environment in a negative way and thus justify their aggressive behaviors. In the presence of animals people are perceived more positively. We are working for both the POSITIVITY.

- And something that is completely fascinating and can get with therapy with dogs is the process of empowerment that we can achieve. Thus, through the care and education of the dog in which the child is involved, this looks like it is useful, but it is able to follow sequences of commands, as it may inhibit unwanted behaviors, as it is capable of taking care of others, as it increases their self-esteem. And all because the effort of the child is reflected in the conduct of the dog who moves forward in its relationship with the human being who is at his side, corrects its errors and does not judge them.

Perhaps for the first time and the eyes of a dog a human being competent and useful, will be what will open a new brighter future and without tags to children.

"Look at what I am capable of doing and I did, not on what I have done." No one while watching fascinated the fish to swim in a pond wondered why can't fly".

Remember that if you want more information you can put in contact with me.

More info: http://tdah.tel/