Helping Veterans Battling PTSD & Addiction | University of Saskatchewan

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      • Publications
      • Fact Sheets
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      • Webinars
      • Videos
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  • Home
  • Our Project
    • Project summary
    • Work plan & timeline
    • Project history
  • team
    • Meet the team
    • Team member access
  • Research Outcomes
    • Publications
    • Fact Sheets
    • Presentations
    • Webinars
    • Videos
    • Service provider toolkit
    • Environmental Scan
    • Thesis
  • Resources
    • Defining a service dog
    • Our research outcomes
    • Working & training online
    • Others' publications
  • News
    • In the news
  • Blog
    • Service Dog Blog
  • Related Studies

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Project SUmmary | RÉSUMÉ DU PROJET

The goal of this patient-oriented project was to inform Canadian service dog organizations working with veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) about recovery from problematic substance use for inclusion in their training programs. The information shared is based on the latest evidence and specific attention is paid to the role of distance peer support in recovery. Our multidisciplinary team recognizes that recovery is variously defined and that common elements include seeking a life worth living, optimism that recovery is possible, recognition that it is a process, and that there is always hope. Our team identifies problematic substance use as involving veterans’ disconnection from other humans, as well as animals and the environment. Combining these areas is an innovative and inclusive approach to recovery. In a stepped process over three years, we worked alongside a dozen service dog programs working with veterans medically diagnosed with PTSD, to understand if and how substance use and peer support is incorporated into their programs. We developed (theory focused) and applied (practice focused) an evidence-informed substance use recovery toolkit with these service dog organizations and mentored its implementation. An external contractor to the project,  Proactive Information Services Inc., evaluated the outcomes.   

 

Le but de ce projet axé sur le patient est d’informer les organismes canadiens de chiens d’assistance, qui travaillent avec des anciens combattants diagnostiqués du syndrome de stress post-traumatique (SSPT), sur le rétablissement d'une consommation problématique de substances pour les inclure dans leurs programmes de formation. Les informations partagées sont basées sur les dernières données probantes et une attention particulière est accordée au rôle du soutien à distance par des pairs en voie de rétablissement. Notre équipe multidisciplinaire reconnaît qu’il existe plusieurs définitions du rétablissement et que les éléments communs comprennent la recherche d’une vie digne d’être vécue, l’optimisme que le rétablissement est possible, la reconnaissance que c’est un processus et qu’il y a toujours de l’espoir. Notre équipe identifie la consommation problématique de substances comme une déconnexion des anciens combattants des autres humains, ainsi que des animaux et de l’environnement. La combinaison de ces domaines constitue une approche novatrice et inclusive pour le rétablissement. Dans le cadre d’un processus échelonné sur trois ans, nous collaborerons avec plus d’une douzaine de programmes de chiens d’assistance œuvrant auprès des anciens combattants diagnostiqués de SSPT par un médecin afin de comprendre si la toxicomanie et le soutien des pairs sont intégrés dans leurs programmes et de quelle façon. Nous sommes en train d’élaborer (en nous basant sur la théorie) et d’appliquer (en nous basant sur la pratique) une trousse de rétablissement de la consommation de substances fondée sur des preuves avec ces organismes de chiens d’assistance et nous encadrerons sa mise en œuvre.  Proactive Information Services Inc., un prestataire de services externe, est   en train d’évaluer les résultats. 

Patient-Oriented Research

Our team worked with over 30 researchers, patients, and system representatives in a patient-oriented approach to our project.

Find out more

ANIMAL WELLNESS

Our project team is committed to animal wellness, and we include a veterinary social worker and veterinarian on our team. 


We adopt both a One Health, with a focus on zooeyia, and One Welfare  approach in our work. Positive welfare is also informing our work. Our team is guided as well by the wisdom of Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers.


  • One Health focuses on the interface between the health of humans, animals and the environment. 
  •  Zooeyia recognizes the positive benefits to human health from interacting with animals, focusing on companion animals.
  • One Welfare concentrates on the interconnections between animal welfare, human wellbeing and the environment. 
  • Positive welfare accounts for the positive experiences animals have and not just the absence of negative ones.  


Our team is guided as well by the wisdom of Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers. Knowledge Keeper  Larry Laliberte comments: “Prayers were called upon and shared to us as a team, that we receive guidance, and that we follow the direction that will best help everyone understand and unite all people of mother earth to a better day as we go forward”. Elder Happy Francis reminds us that: “We are all related. Everything is connected. All living things and elements have a spirit, including the rock, the land and the animals. We need to listen and learn from all beings around us. We never stop learning. All my relations”.  


 Copyright © 2021 Service Dog Research - All Rights Reserved  |  Droit d’auteur @2021 Service Dog Research – Tous droits réservés

Funded by Health Canada, Substance Use and Addictions Program  |  Financé par Santé Canada, Programme sur l’usage de substances et les addictions
The views expressed here do not necessarily represent the views of Health Canada  |  Les opinions exprimées ici ne représentent pas nécessairement les opinions de Santé Canada


Visit Dr. Colleen Dell's website for more PAWSitive Canine Connection initiatives |   Visitez le site Web du Dr Colleen Dell pour plus d'initiatives PAWSitive Canine Connection 

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