Commit to Your Repertoire

Goal 1: To gain advanced knowledge of animal assisted therapy and the benefits of using animal assisted therapy with dogs in a pediatric setting.

Similar to discovering a new musical piece in preparation for a solo performance, I was motivated to discover more about my area of interest in preparation for developing my competence area.  While I knew I was interested in the use of dogs in pediatrics in occupational therapy practice, I was unsure exactly what this meant. It was through my interviews with occupational therapists working in this area, reading research articles and books, and watching videos, that I found the term “animal assisted therapy”. While doing this research, I discovered some gaps and inconsistencies existed, particularly related to terminology. As someone new to this area, I found the inconsistency in the terminology particularly confusing. I also learned that many professionals working in this area were also frustrated by this, as well as the general lack of understanding and education about the various types of working animals. This inspired me to create a user-friendly terminology guide that would provide preferred terminology and highlight the differences in the various working animals. 

Reviewing the literature and speaking with experts in the field allowed me to understand the preferred terminology to use in my artifact. One thing that became clear was the overall lack of basic resources for occupational therapists who want to learn about animal assisted therapy. To address this, I created an educational infographic. This infographic provides an overview on the use of animal assisted therapy with dogs as a modality in pediatric occupational therapy settings.  The infographic was developed for occupational therapists and other health care practitioners, but can also be used to educate parents. The infographic is visually appealing and provides important information. Creating the infographic was a challenge, as I had to learn how to generate a resource that included essential information, but would not be overwhelming.  By creating this infographic, I learned how to synthesize information and present it in a concise manner. 

Artifact 1: Animal Assisted Therapy: Terminology Guide

Artifact 2: Infographic: Animal Assisted Therapy with Dogs in Pediatric Practice

Proceed to Animal Assisted Therapy: Terminology Guide