Editorial

Animal-Assisted Therapies AreBecoming More Common

Walking around at the last ASPMN convention, I heard

the usual types of conversation. How are you? How are

your children? Do you have a new job? And how is

school going? We all hear the same questions whenwe see acquaintances for the first time in a year.

What I did not expect but heard a lot about was—

how is your dog? The typical response to the question

was for the dog’s owner to quickly show a cute picture

of the dog. That was a first for me.

My husband begged for a dog for six years. I asked,

‘‘Why?’’He said that a dog greets youwhenyouget home,

licks you on the face, provides unconditional love, and isa good companion. For 6 years I told him I could do all

those things for him. My biggest mistake was to go

with him to look at a long-haired dachshund! It did not

take long for me to see that my husband was correct.

That got me thinking about animal-assisted thera-

pies for people. Grandgeorge and Hausberger (2011)

report that humans have a long history of relationship

with domestic animals and that, more recently, pets actas ‘‘social substitutes’’ thru bonding. Domestic animals

develop abilities to perceive and interpret human sig-

nals. It is generally accepted that dog ownership is asso-

ciated with family cohesion and provides people with a

type of stress-buffering social support. Dogs are thought

to increase a person’s self-efficacy, thus providing a

feeling of accomplishment or increased coping skills.

Looking at the literature, I stumbled on animal-assistedtherapy. Similar terminology includes animal-assisted

activities, service animals, and trained dog therapy.

There are slight differences with each name, but the

main point it that the animals are held to high standards

of training to assist the owner with some sort of activity

or guidance. A study by Marcus, Bernstein, Constantin,

Kunkel, Breurer, and Hanlon (2012) found that outpa-

tients who spent time waiting in a clinic with a certifiedtherapy dog had significant improvements in pain,

Pain Management Nursing, Vol 14,

mood, and other measures of distress compared with

outpatients who waited without a dog.

The cost varies from $4,000 for a therapy dog to

$10,000 for a fully trained service dog (Dog Builders,2013). The United States Department of Justice 2010

American with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements

for service animals notes a separate provision for mini-

ature horses to do work or perform tasks for people

with disabilities. These horses are typically 24-34 in-

ches tall and cost between $2,800 and $4,800, depend-

ing on the type of breed.

The ADA defines service animals as dogs (or hors-es) that are individually trained to do work or perform

tasks for people with disabilities. Service animals

are considered to be working animals, not pets. Service

animals must be harnessed, leashed, or tethered unless

these devices interfere with the animal’s work or the

individual’s disability prevents the use of these devices.

Staff at any facility are allowed to ask two questions: is

this service animal required because of a disability andwhat work or task has the animal been trained to

perform? Allergies or fear of the animal are not valid

reasons for denying access or refusing service. Staff

are not required to provide care or food for the animal.

Service dogs America (http://www.servicedogs

america.org) suggests the purchase of a service dog

vest, plastic wallet card, and either an ‘‘Ask To Pet Me’’

patch or a ‘‘DoNot PetMe’’ patch. Children and all adultsare asked not to interferewith the service animalwhile it

is working. Once the vest comes off or a command is

given, the animal knows it is not working. Even then,

ask for permission to pet the animal.

Joyce S. Willens, PhD, RN, BC

College of Nursing, Villanova University

Villanova, Pennsylvania

REFERENCES

Grandgeorge, M., & Hausberger, M. (2011). Human-animal

relationships: From daily life to animal-assisted therapies.Annali Dell’ Istituto Superiore di Sanita, 47(4), 397–408.

Dog Builders (2013). Trained Therapy Dogs. RetrievedOctober 15, 2103, from http://dogbuilders.com/therapy-dogs-for-sale/trained-therapy-dogs-for-sale.

Marcus, D. A., Bernstein, C. D., Constantin, J. M.,Kunkel, F. A., Breuer, P., & Hanlon, R. B. (2012).Animal-assisted therapy at an outpatient painmanagement clinic. Pain Medicine, 13(1), 45–57.

http://www.servicedogsamerica.org. retrieved October15, 2013.U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division (2010).

Information and Technical Assistance on the Americans withDisability Act. Service Animals Retrieved October 15, 2013,from www.ada.gov/qasrvc.htm.

� 2013 by the American Society for Pain Management Nursing

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pmn.2013.10.001

No 4 (December), 2013: p 183