Project work Plan and timeline

With  the onset of the pandemic, our team quickly realized that we needed to  understand how remote communication was impacting our Service Dog community before we could move forward with the project. Even though the focus of our project includes distance peer support, the pandemic introduced additional   challenges. In short, it did not make sense for our team to start creating an addictions specific toolkit for Service Dog organizations if some would not able to deliver what they learned to their Veteran clients.  

Further, with initial concern that the pandemic would not be short-lived, we were of the opinion that online communication may become more normalized generally moving forward.

Our office took on 5 main opportunities since the start of the pandemic to  learn more about working remotely and online with animals generally (e.g., therapy dogs), service dogs specifically, and Veterans. Each of these opportunities overlaped with our SUAP-funded project, and specifically provided insight on offering distance support and knowledge to Service Dog Organizations  and the Veterans they serve through available virtual platforms. This was a work in progress in these unprecedented times.  

1. Online Connections: A SK Health Research Foundation funded project, TherapyDogs.ca, aimed to bring the USask therapy dog program online to Saskatchewanians. We  learned about the best ways to provide connection, love, and support and evidence-based COVID-19 mental health messaging during the  pandemic. 

Relevant lessons learned for our project:

• A combined process-outcome evaluation was designed to assess participant opinion and experiences with the PAWS Your Stress online program (May, 2020). We learned participants are accessing the program because they want to learn about the therapy dogs, and in doing so felt comforted (90%), connected (86%), supported (82%), and loved (63%) by the dogs online.
• A subsequent needs assessment (June-July, 2020) of the online program assessed participant needs and preferences regarding program implementation to help inform future programming. We found that individuals who were tuning-in wanted very much to learn more about the therapy dogs and their lives and watch them engage in activities, ranging from just hanging out to doing tricks. They also indicated a desire for live online visits, not only pre-recorded videos.
• A process evaluation of the implementation of our online visiting program with the University of Saskatchewan community was undertaken from September - December, 2020. Key findings included that handlers and students appreciated the conversations and connections that took place within the remote Zoom sessions (i.e., the Zoom session offers opportunities for peer connection); there is value in continuing the program online and attendees believe that various groups would benefit from the Zoom sessions & identified multiple advantages to hosting the program on Zoom; the Zoom sessions offer attendees a space to take a break and focus on something other than their school/work activities; and handlers play a unique and important role in the remote sessions, whereby they act as a "bridge" and an "interpreter" between the therapy animals and attendees. Handlers facilitate peer engagement within the Zoom sessions. 
• Building upon the process evaluation, an outcome evaluation of the online visiting program was undertaken from January - April, 2021. Altogether, the findings indicated that attendees of the remote PAWS Your Stress program experienced a variety of benefits from accessing the program. Similar to the findings in the process evaluation (above), attendees were highly appreciative of the program and the animal-handler volunteers.
• Reflecting on these outcomes, combined with our collective experiences, we learned several lessons regarding program personnel needs (e.g., more than when offered in person), therapy dog handler training and support requirements (e.g., how to work with a dog online), and online programming prerequisites (e.g., social media, website). These lessons have been published by our team in an article titled Lessons Learned: Transitioning a Therapy Dog Program Online during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the peer-reviewed journal Animals. 

2. USA Online Therapy Dog Working Group: Our team learned and shared at the start of the pandemic from and with American universities about how they are offering virtual therapy dog programs to staff and students through Zoom technology in small, interactive groups. We applied this understanding at the University of Saskatchewan with students and staff.

Relevant lessons learned to date for our project:

• We contributed to an on-line book about our experiences. The book is titled Alternatives to Traditional Animal Assisted Interventions: Expanding Our Toolkit and is available here.

3. Online Animal Assisted Interventions: Drs. Dell and Chalmers continued to offer animal assisted therapy alongside counselors with patients at the Regional Psychiatric Centre in SK, but instead of in-person AAT sessions they did this work online. They learned how to best interact with vulnerable populations through online platforms and build bonds in a virtual environment. They also connected online with participants of the PAWSitive Support Canine Assisted Learning program they offer at Drumheller Prison in AB.

Relevant lessons learned to date for our project:

• Haley Scheck, under the supervision of Drs. Colleen Dell and Linzi Williamson, examined the online AAT program transition. A case study, involving four patients, two therapy dog handlers, and three clinicians, contributed insight into key differences between in-person and online sessions, the role of technology, and the role of the handler. The study also found that virtual sessions contribute feelings of love and hope, as well as a sense of deinstitutionalization to patients, in turn benefiting their well-being. Interacting with the therapy dogs and handlers online has some potential parallels with Veterans’ experiences. The the online connection for RPC patients was determined to be so beneficial in this study that an online therapy dog visiting program has continued at RPC at the request of the Warden. A peer reviewed publication of this work is available in  People and Animals: The International Journal of Research and Practice.  

4. Remote Zoom Service Dog Training with AUDEAMUS: Members of our research team trained virtually with a Service Dog trainer to gain insight on how Service Dog  training can be offered through an online platform. 

Relevant lessons learned to date for our project:

• In this digital story, research team member Ben shares about his dog Lola who taught him the value of perspective. Lola came from a very difficult past and could not be trained in the conventional sense. Ben reflects that dogs and even people do not all benefit from the same care and must be treated as the unique individuals they are.  All of Ben's training with Lola took place online with AUDEAMUS.

5. Surveys to our Project Partners: We have launched surveys to gain  insight from our project partners on how work-life has changed the use of  online platforms and social media because of the pandemic. 

Relevant lessons learned to date for our project:

• A survey of our research team members early in the pandemic examined how work-life had changed the use of  online platforms and social media. We found that individuals were experiencing similar situations of isolation, changing work environments, and increased use of technology. And while experiences have been similar overall, the impact of individual situations, contexts and challenges cannot be overlooked. Read more in an infographic here. 
• A survey of participating service dog organizations in this project gathered lessons learned about remote service dog training, with specific insight about zoom, facebook, webex, and instagram. Learn more in an infographic here. 

6. Remote Service Dog Organization Training:  We worked with our Service Dog organizations doing online training and learning from it. Training included St. John Ambulance Pet First Aid, Mental Health First Aid, Peer Support with Mental Health Innovations and CTRI, and a Rowan University conference. We also offered regular information sharing webinars (topics include human-animal bond, ask a veterinarian about annual check-ups, Service Dog stress, COVID-19 and canines, gender and trauma informed work, and moral injury). We also assessed a cohort of Veterans training their Service Dogs online.

Relevant lessons learned to date for our project:

• Surveys of attendees offer insight on what is working and what can be improved while learning online. This feedback has been incorporated into the subsequent learning opportunity.
• Evaluation findings of a cohort of 5 Veterans participating is online Service Dog training with the AUDEAMUS service dog organization will be available soon.