Animal-Assisted Intervention (AAI) is becoming more widely known and is a key element of One Health One Welfare – a collaborative and holistic approach to supporting human, animal and environmental wellbeing together. The benefits to bringing the joy of animal companionship, through a volunteer visit, are profound. Our Special Friend’s Animal-Assisted Activity (AAA) project is a creative solution which improves mental health for lonely and isolated people who love animals but are unable to care for a pet of their own, usually due to advancing age, ill-health, or disability. It can be particularly challenging for people who have kept pets for the majority of their lives to suddenly have such a void, leaving them isolated and depressed. Absence of animal companionship can compound mental health issues, especially as the majority of our AAA clients live alone, without family nearby and a decreased or non-existent social circle.
Through AAA, volunteers and their pets (predominantly dogs) make weekly visits to clients in their own home to provide animal companionship and vital human social interaction. Where clients have sufficient mobility, they may walk the dog together with the volunteer – referred to as accompanied walking. Not only does the client receive the proven benefits to mental health of contact with an animal, they also gain vital human social interaction with the volunteer. OSF carefully matches clients with volunteers so, where possible, they live in the same or nearby communities to increase the opportunities of wider social interactions and community engagement to further enhance mental health.
An AAA visit can enhance the quality of life and give our clients something to look forward to. Often carers visits are short, with many demands to ‘get dressed, take medication and eat…‘ and not much time to just enjoy some company. In so many cases, an AAA visit is the only time where someone visits purely just for a chat and time with an animal, with no expectation to DO anything. No two visits are the same; some will find an activity to do together and others involve sitting comfortably and quietly together, with the animal doing all the ‘talking’. Volunteer visits can also help identify any unmet needs or issues. We encourage all volunteers to communicate any concerns to the office and we can notify the appropriate teams to organise the right support.
During the AAI training session, we discussed some top tips for visiting and how to plan to avoid anything going ‘wrong’. Here are some highlights;
- Consider the Environment. Are there any breakables at ‘dog level? Is medication out of reach and no snacks left on the side that an opportunistic dog may take a liking to.
- What to bring. An allocated number of treats can bring structure to a visit (and avoid weight creeping up). It is a good idea to bring a towel or blanket to help protect clothing and skin (particularly if your client would like a doggy companion on their lap). And, of course, be sure to bring water and a bowl too.
- What to do: The nature of your relationship with the client, dog, and volunteer is likely to evolve naturally. It is nice to explore any activities. This could include doing the crossword, enrichment activities with the animal, a short walk (if deemed safe), etc. We would love to hear of your innovative ideas and share them with our volunteers.
- When to stop: Whilst your client might be enjoying their visit it is absolutely fundamental that volunteers are aware if/when their animal is uncomfortable. Some stress signs are obvious such as cowering and shaking, but others are subtle. Please see the below link for more information on subtitles signs as well as Trigger Stacking.
