Date Presented 3/30/2017
This retrospective data analysis examines the outcomes of an animal-assisted therapy pilot program implemented with school-age children. The program was designed and implemented by the school’s occupational therapy department with the goals of enhancing skills important for social participation.
Primary Author and Speaker: Rochelle Mendonca
Additional Authors and Speakers: Stephanie Yhost, Susan Santalucia, Siobhan Ideishi
Contributing Authors:
PURPOSE: Programs centered on the human–animal bond use animals to facilitate engagement in children and adults. Although most of the evidence in this area focuses on adults, animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) have been shown to have a positive impact on behaviors of children with disabilities. Research suggests that AAIs increase intrinsic and implicit motivation. However, outcome-based studies are needed that incorporate systematic protocols into interventions. The purpose of this study was to retrospectively evaluate if information registration, attention, initiation, and emotional regulation improved in students enrolled in the AAI program.
DESIGN: A retrospective design was used to analyze an 18-session AAI implemented in two schools for students receiving occupational therapy (OT). The program aimed to enhance information registration, attention, initiation, and emotional regulation of students in school. These variables were measured at four time points: before the animals arrived, when the students first saw the animals, when the students interacted with the animals, and after transition to another activity or leaving the animals. A total of 28 students with disabilities participated in the program. Ages ranged from 7 to 22 yr.
METHOD: The assessment form was constructed to document information registration, attention, initiation, and emotional regulation. Information registration was measured on a two-point scale of no change and change in affect to new situations. Attention was measured on a two-point scale of attentive and inattentive. Initiation was measured on a four-point scale of self-initiates interaction with animal, self-initiates after prompting, initiates only with prompting, and does not initiate. Emotional regulation was measured on a four-point scale of calm, agitated, overwhelmed, and withdrew. An additional variable of termination was measured on a three-point scale of terminates upon request, terminates after multiple prompts, and does not terminate on request. All raters were trained to detect and evaluate behavioral codes. Data were analyzed with IBM SPSS Statistics Version 23.
RESULTS: Results indicated a statistically significant change in information registration, χ2 = 16.325, p = .001. Post hoc analyses revealed significant Wilcoxon signed-rank tests for all time points with small to medium effect sizes (.26–.29). A possible reason for these results could be that the addition of the pets was seen as new stimuli, which can sometimes be preferred in children with autism.
When having to terminate the activity, 81% of observations indicated the students terminated upon request, with the remaining 19% needing multiple prompts. Observations of attention skills indicated that the students became more attentive overall throughout the sessions. For initiation, data responses for self-initiates continued to increase during interaction with the animals. For emotional regulation, 80% of the 51 responses indicated the children were calm through the remainder of the day; 8% were agitated, 10% were overwhelmed, and 2% were withdrawn.
CONCLUSION: This study adds to existing literature that AAIs may be beneficial for certain populations of students. This pilot program captured skills needed for social interaction. It targeted emotional and physiological needs of children and highlights the role of environmental contexts in promoting engagement in school occupations and enhancing social participation for learning opportunities.
IMPACT: Occupational therapy is uniquely poised to use AAI interventions to promote physical as well as social skills in children with disabilities. This study highlighted that school-based OT outcomes may be improved with novel interventions such as AAIs.
References
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O’Haire, M. E., McKenzie, S. J., McCune, S., & Slaughter, V. (2013). Effects of animal assisted activities with guinea pigs in the primary school classroom. Anthrozoös, 26, 445–458. https://doi.org/10.2752/175303713X13697429463835
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Sams, M., Fortney, E., & Willenbring, S. (2006). Occupational therapy incorporating animals for children with autism: A pilot investigation. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 60, 268–274. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.60.3.268
