A Commentary about Lessons Learned: Transitioning a Therapy Dog Program Online during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

In 2015, the University of Saskatchewan PAWS Your Stress Therapy Dog program partnered with St. John Ambulance for therapy dog teams to visit our campus and offer attendees love, comfort and support. We recognized at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic that students, staff and faculty may require mental health support, particularly with the challenges of isolation and loneliness. In response, our team transitioned from an in-person to a novel online format at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. We designed online content for participants to (1) connect with therapy dogs and experience feelings of love, comfort and support as occurred in in-person programming, and (2) learn about pandemic-specific, evidence-informed mental health knowledge. Our unique approach highlighted what dogs can teach humans about health through their own care and daily activities. From April to June 2020, we developed a website, created 28 Facebook livestreams and 60 pre-recorded videos which featured therapy dogs and handlers, and cross-promoted on various social media platforms. Over three months, first a combined process-outcome evaluation helped us determine whether our activities contributed to the program’s goals. A subsequent needs assessment allowed us to elicit participant preferences for the program moving forward. This commentary reflects on these findings and our teams’ collective experiences to share our key lessons learned related to program personnel needs, therapy dog handler training and support requirements, and online programming prerequisites. This combined understanding is informing our current activities with the virtual program and should be of interest to other therapy dog programs transitioning online.

Companion Animals’ Roles for AIDS Survivors, Mostly Aging Males, during HIV/AIDS and COVID-19 Pandemics

“…Building on the supportive roles that animals can provide, many ongoing programs offer visits with therapy dogs, or provide support to make it easier for people to take care of their own pets. Visits with therapy dogs were curtailed during COVID, leading one program in Canada to convert and develop an online therapy dog program with videos of the dogs and handlers, including mental health and self-care content [ 51 ]. About half of these handlers resisted this change, but others stayed with the program and the participants especially enjoyed the online dogs and felt loved and supported by the dogs and connected to them.…”

Reactivation of a Hospital-Based Therapy Dog Visitation Program during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Consequently, most hospital-based therapy animal visitation programs were suspended during the height of the pandemic, a time when the benefits of such visits may have been sorely needed. Some programs, such as the PAWS Your Stress Therapy Dog Program of the University of Saskatchewan and St. John Ambulance, transitioned to an online format, where therapy dog visits were conducted virtually [ 28 ]. Although early findings indicate that such online programs are well-received and important sources of social connection [ 28 ], no data exist as yet to support the comparative effectiveness of virtual vs. in-person visits in their effects on patients and healthcare workers.…”