Encyclopedia of animal rights and animal 103

60 | Animal-Assisted Therapy Adequate curricula to assure the appropriate application of animal-assisted interventions, as well as the welfare of the animals involved, are only now coming to be available In the United States, optional programs for certifying handlers and their animals have focused on preparing volunteers and their animals There have been few educational avenues for health professionals to gain coursework and practical experience in applying animal-assisted interventions and learning about the animals’ needs Practitioners have been self-taught and sought out their own path of study and experience A recent development is the establishment of the International Society for Animal-Assisted Therapy, which accredits educational programs designed to prepare health professionals For the past couple of decades, practitioners of animal-assisted therapy have begun with traditional educational programs in the health professions and have had to develop their own techniques for animal-assisted interventions, building them upon their own health disciplines To address this curricular gap, the International Society for Animal-Assisted Therapy now offers an accreditation process, with stated requirements and a detailed review process Already, two institutions are accredited to offer instruction in Animal-Assisted Interventions, the Institute for Social Learning with Animals, in Germany, and the Institute for applied Ethology and Animal Psychology, in Switzerland Applications from other countries are forthcoming These programs accept students from a variety of health professions and offer flexibility for enrollees to focus on a specific area of interest for their internship and special project, such as equine-assisted therapy or animal-assisted pedagogy These programs will be of value to those working in a wide range of settings, and with a range of species of animals They also expand the curricular materials available for practitioners In the United States, the University of Denver offers a special emphasis on animal-assisted interventions within the social work program The Bergin University of Canine Studies in Santa Rosa, California, provides undergraduate and graduate instruction focused on assistance dogs These recent developments signal an accelerated emphasis on bolstering the number of professional opportunities in animal-assisted interventions Further Reading Delta Society, accessed on December 15, 2008: http://www.deltasociety.org/Volunteer AboutAbout.htm Fine, Aubrey H., ed 2006 Handbook on animalassisted therapy: Theoretical foundations and guidelines for practice, 2nd ed Boston: Elsevier/Academic Press Hart, Lynette A 2006 “Community context and psychosocial benefits of animal companionship.” In Fine, Aubrey H., ed., Handbook on animal-assisted therapy: Theoretical foundations and guidelines for practice, 2nd ed Boston: Elsevier/Academic Press, 73–94 International Society for Animal-Assisted Therapy, accessed on December 15, 2008: www aat-isaat.org Melson, Gail 2001 Why the wild things are: Animals in the lives of children Cambridge: Harvard University Press North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA), accessed on December 15, 2008: http://www.narha.org/ Psychiatric Service Dog Society, accessed on December 15, 2008, http://www.psychdog.org/ Serpell, James 1991 “Beneficial effects of pet ownership on some aspects of human health and behaviour.” Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 84 (Dec.): 717–720 Lynette A Hart