Original scientific paper

https://doi.org/10.31299/hrri.53.1.3

Supporting families of children with developmental disabilities: experiences with therapy dogs

Mia Lakatoš orcid.org/0000-0002-9220-5120 ; Studijski centar socijalnog rada, Zagreb
Lucija Vejmelka orcid.org/0000-0002-7531-8457 ; Studijski centar socijalnog rada, Zagreb

Abstract

Therapy dogs, which play a central role in animal-assisted therapy, are trained to support daily activities and promote development of children and young people with disabilities. This qualitative study involved semi structured interviews in September 2016 with seven parents of children with disabilities who use therapy dogs. The interview, which was designed specifically for the purposes of this study, collected data on the types of social support and assistance that the therapy dogs provided, as well as the challenges that the use of such dogs presented. Thematic analysis of the interviews showed that therapy dogs provide instrumental and emotional social support as well as other types of assistance to families, and that the greatest challenges to using such dogs are taking care of them and dealing with lack of information about therapy dogs among users and the general public.

Keywords

therapy dogs, family; social support; animal-assisted therapy; challenges

Hrčak ID:

183818

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/183818

Publication date:

6.7.2017.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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