Therapy animals in the athletic training world

Do therapy or service animals have a place in the athletic training world? Could therapy or service animals make a difference to patient mental health?

This blog is an open space to discuss the idea of animals in that health system to work with patients in the athletic training facility. More schools are incorporating therapy animals into the school systems in recent years. Healthcare systems have already included service animals into daily lives of patients to perform certain tasks, such as alerting an owner of seizure on sets, glucose level changes, and PTSD episode. Let's talk about the idea of incorporating animals into the athletic training facility.

Do therapy or service animals have a place in the athletic training world? Could therapy or service animals make a difference to patient mental health?

Secondary school athletic trainers are a combination of a school system as well as a health facility. Therapy and service animals have the potential to be a resource that the athletic trainer could offer to the care of patients.

Therapy animals Vs Service animals

Therapy animals are a companion pet that is trained to give comfort. They are trained to support and provide comfort for people surrounding them. This is not owner or handler specific, but the animal can respond to anyone in their proximity who may need comfort or support at that time. Therapy animals do not qualify as service animals because they are not trained for specific tasks. This is different than a service animal who is trained for specific medical related tasks that the owner has a medical diagnosis for. Service animals can be trained as a guide dog for a blind owner, trained to recognize the signs of an epileptic episode for the owner, or trained to recognize the scent of a diabetic owner who is experiencing ketosis.

Both therapy and service animals can be trained by a registered company or by the owner. For the owner to take a therapy or service animal into public places such as libraries, restaurants, and schools, the animal must already be trained. Service animals are not required to wear identifying markers as a service animal, documents of service animal registration are not

required either. Service animals are subject to local licensing or registration depending on your state. The animal is also required to be current on shot records.

The service animal would not be the best option for an athletic training facility. Service animals are trained to care for their owners' needs specifically. A service animal utilizes scents and mannerisms to trigger an alert to the owner for immediate action. It would not be possible to train a single service animal to detect changes in upwards of 150 patients in one athletic training facility. Therapy animals can best be utilized in the athletic training facilities, when compared to service animals, because they can provide their service of comfort and protection to all the patients who may need it.

The use of a therapy animal has both pros and cons. We are interested in hearing your opinions as to whether or not athletic training facilities should utilize therapy animals. Please comment on your opinions, questions, concerns, pros and cons. They will be addressed in the next blog by Two ATs and A Blog! #TwoATsAndABlog

References

K9 Partners for Patriots. What is the Difference Between a Service Dog and a Therapy Dog? https://k9partnersforpatriots.com/difference-service-dog-therapy-dog/#:~:text=Service%20dogs%20are%20protected%20under,schools%2C%20hospices%2C%20disaster%20areas. Accessed February 26, 2022.

Medical Home Portal. Service, Support, and Therapy Animals. https://www.medicalhomeportal.org/living-with-child/assistive-technology/service-support-and-therapy-animals#:~:text=Service%20animals%20can%20guide%20people,traumatic%20stress%20disorder%20(PTSD). Accessed February 26, 2022.

U.S. Department of Justice. Service Animals. https://www.ada.gov/service_animals_2010.htm. Updated February 20, 2020. Accessed February 26, 2022.

U.S. Department of Justice. Frequently Asked Questions about Service Animals and the ADA. https://www.ada.gov/regs2010/service_animal_qa.pdf. Accessed February 26, 2022.