The emergence of human–animal support services (HASS)—services provided to help keep people and their companion animals together—in the United States has been driven by two global public health crises... Drawing from Ottawa Charter tenets and using the United States as a case study, we: (1) recognize and explicate HASS as public health resources for human and animal well-being and (2) delineate examples of HASS within the three-tiered public health intervention framework. HASS examples situated in the three-tier framework reveal a public health continuum for symbiotic well-being and health.

The APA’s newly released book for mental health practitioners, “The Role of Companion Animals in the Treatment of Mental Disorders,” examines the existing evidence to support animal-based interventions as well as the risks associated with various types of programs. The book provides a thorough analysis of the latest research and explores topics that include protecting the animal’s health and welfare, with an emphasis on understanding applicable laws and regulations.

While conducting RCTs in any field of study is an intensive and complex undertaking, researchers conducting RCTs to evaluate the efficacy of AAIs are faced with unique considerations. The goal of this manuscript is to discuss these complexities and considerations surrounding conducting an RCT of an AAI program in regard to study planning, conceptualization, design, implementation, and dissemination.

The four-week, fourth-year rotation has students shadow Dogs on Call dog-handler teams and join research projects examining the impact of the program on patients. Gee hopes that the students and residents walk away understanding not just the benefits of the program, but the scientific evidence supporting it.

...this idea of Lassie saving Jimmy from the well, right? That's fiction. And we need people to respect the animals for who they are. They're unique and impressive, and they can do a lot of really incredible things, but they're not fictional characters. And so really understanding the power of the actual animal, the reality of the actual animal, and respecting the animal for what they bring to the table.