Understanding the participation outcomes for persons with disability when partnered with assistance dogs: A scoping review

Abstract

Introduction Assistance dogs are trained to support persons living with disability and mitigate limitations that hinder their participation in everyday activities. Despite participation being a frequent challenge for people with disabilities, evidence linking assistance dog provision to improved participation outcomes is underdeveloped. This scoping review aimed to improve understanding by mapping the participation outcomes claimed in research on assistance dogs using the International Classification of Functioning (ICF), Disability and Health framework. Methods Using the Arksey and O′Malley's six‐step framework, this scoping review searched six databases. Data were collected, mapped and summarised in accordance with the domains outlined in the ICF. Results In total, 38 studies across 41 papers met the inclusion criteria. Included studies investigated assistance dogs who were partnered with people living with physical disabilities, mental illness, autism and chronic conditions that require alerting (e.g., epilepsy and diabetes). Mapping of participation outcomes suggested that assistance dogs can have a positive impact on participation in many areas of daily life. Conclusion Findings can assist practitioners, funders and policymakers to recognise the value of assistance dogs as a support for people with disability. However, further research is needed to address limitations regarding study designs, for example, the outcome measures used.

Service Animals in Health Care Settings

“…3 Although rigorous studies are lacking, research suggests service animals enhance their handler's safety, participation in daily activities, social integration, and quality of life. [7][8][9] Challenges include expenses (eg, food, veterinary costs), workload (eg, caring for the animal), logistical difficulties integrating service animals into social and physical environments, and emotional considerations (eg, when animals become sick, can no longer work). Furthermore, people with disability often confront substantial disadvantages in social determinants of health.…”

Current Perspectives on the Challenges of Implementing Assistance Dogs in Human Mental Health Care

“…Several proposed criterions for PTSD service dog training propose that the dogs must be able to lessen the veteran’s PTSD symptoms [ 61 ]. These trained assignments, however, vary widely across service dog providers, are not specified and have to be applied to a veteran’s individual requirements [ 62 ]. Accordingly, no assessments exist on how significant untrained versus trained behaviors are for decreasing PTSD symptoms.…”