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Therapist Attitudes Towards Animal Assisted Therapy: A Qualitative Study, Karen Vizaniaris
Therapist Attitudes Towards Animal Assisted Therapy: A Qualitative Study, Karen Vizaniaris
Doctor of Occupational Therapy Capstone Projects
PURPOSE. To understand the attitudes and perceptions of therapists towards animal assisted therapy (AAT) and towards the barriers and facilitators of implementing AAT into practice. METHOD. This descriptive qualitative studied consisted of ten semi-structured interviews with rehabilitation therapists that were coded for common themes. Data from two Likert-scale questions were analyzed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS. Eight themes emerged from the data including therapists’ attitudes towards animal assisted therapy and their own competence, three core benefits of animal assisted therapy that they identified (increased patient participation, positive emotional/social influence, and contribution to patient-centered goals), and three main barriers towards implementation (scheduling/operations, …
Hippotherapy Capstone, Autumn O'Hara
Hippotherapy Capstone, Autumn O'Hara
Doctor of Occupational Therapy Capstone Projects
Therapists work with many children with many different diagnoses. One of the most prevalent diagnosis is Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). According to recent statistics, available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in 68 children are diagnosed with ASD; which is a developmental disability that can cause social and behavioral challenges (CDC, 2016). ASD can also be defined as a complex group of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by deficits in social interaction and verbal and nonverbal communication, as well as restricted, repetitive interests (APA, 2016). Therapist also work with individuals who have other diagnoses and deficits, including but …