Assessing Handlers for Competence in Animal-Assisted Interventions

98 pages. Temps de lecture estimé 1h13min.
Through practical, real-life examples, Assessing Handlers for Competence in Animal-Assisted Interventions provides guidance to any person working with animals in any setting. Facilities that have volunteers who work independently are in the greatest need of competent handlers, yet many of those facilities accept handlers with only proof of animal vaccinations. Other facilities accept an evaluation of the animal-handler team without knowing whether that evaluation relates to their facility or client dynamics. Both of these problems easily can be remedied with basic guidance.Howie brings more than thirty years of experience as an AAI provider, coordinator, and mental health therapist to bear on the topic of competence for animal handlers. In a friendly, easy-to-read style, she clearly explains the need for competencies while identifying broad categories currently in use. She then outlines training that addresses those competencies based on individual facility and client dynamics. She further describes one model for easily integrating competency assessment into an interview and provides a form for documenting the competency assessment. Additionally, Howie addresses how to deal with problems that can arise in program management.Anyone who reads this book will come away with the knowledge and confidence to assess handlers’ competence.Since the 1960s, the field of education in the U.S. has been increasingly influenced by the concept of competency-based education: helping students learn performance-based competencies rather than solely learning data. Competency-based education focuses on outcomes rather than the learning itself. The concept of competency has become integrated into many fields, including animal-assisted interventions (AAI). Organizations like the American Counseling Association and the American Psychological Association (the Human-Animal Interaction section of Division 17) have published competencies related not only to providing mental health therapy but also to providing such therapy with the assistance of a therapy animal.It follows that volunteer animal handlers as well as professional therapists could be expected to demonstrate competence in the broad field of AAI (activities, therapy, education/learning, literacy, and more). It is becoming more common in the U.S. to find volunteers in hospitals with their therapy dogs. Even television shows and com¬mercials now include therapy dogs in their scripts.Volunteer AAI handlers in facilities generally work quite independently with their animals, often without direct supervision. In contrast, some animal handlers work directly with a human healthcare clinician in mental or physical health, where the animal handler is responsible for the animal and the therapist staff member is responsible for the client. Even in this latter situation, the therapist rarely provides direct supervision to the animal handler and may not have influence over which animal-handler team to work with.Given the high level of independent work, finding an animal-handler team who is a good fit is essential for everyone’s safety. This book provides guidance to clini¬cians, facility staff, and program coordinators to help them determine whether a han¬dler is competent to independently provide safe service in their facility or program.Foreword In Gratitude Introduction 1. The Importance of Assessing Handler Competence 2. What Is Competency­Based Assessment? 3. AAI Competencies 4. Training for Competence 5. Conducting Your Competency­Based Assessment 6. Animal Competencies 7. The Coordinator’s Role in Animal Welfare 8. Assessing the Handler’s Attention to Animal Welfare 9. Bumps in the Road 10. Putting It All Together Appendix A. Handler Competency Form Appendix B. S.E.E. the P.U.P. Appendix C. Interview Questions and Answers Appendix D. References and Resources About the Author