College Students' Length of Time and Canine/Handler Interactions at Drop-In Canine Therapy Program

Location

CSU Ballroom

Start Date

2-4-2019 2:00 PM

End Date

2-4-2019 3:30 PM

Student's Major

Human Performance

Student's College

Allied Health and Nursing

Mentor's Name

Michelle McAlarnen

Mentor's Department

Human Performance

Mentor's College

Allied Health and Nursing

Description

Drop-in canine-therapy programs on college campuses have grown rapidly in the United States (Crossman & Kazdin, 2015). These drop-in programs are meant to help students decrease stress, anxiety, and homesickness while increasing well-being and mood (Grajfoner, Harte, Potter, & Mcguigan, 2017; House, Neal, & Brackels, 2018). Though there is initial research on the effects of animal therapy on individuals (Binfet, Passmore, Cebry, Stuik, & McKay, 2017), the recency of this research area means there is a limited understanding of student motivation, experience, and preferred visit length. This research study aims to learn who attends, why they attend, and what students hope to gain from the experience, as well as the length of time and number of interactions students have with canines and handlers during a drop-in session. In order to address these aims, we will conduct survey and observational research during Hound Hugs & Kanine Kisses Program sessions. This poster will present initial data from only the observational research portion of this study. Observational data on students' length of time at the event and number of interactions with therapy dogs and handlers will be collected. This information can help researchers understand the length of time and number of interactions participants naturally seek out during their visit (i.e., “dose-response relationship”). With the findings from this research, we hope to give supporting statistics as to how college students engage with the canines and handlers to help inform future programming on college campuses.

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Apr 2nd, 2:00 PM Apr 2nd, 3:30 PM

College Students' Length of Time and Canine/Handler Interactions at Drop-In Canine Therapy Program

CSU Ballroom

Drop-in canine-therapy programs on college campuses have grown rapidly in the United States (Crossman & Kazdin, 2015). These drop-in programs are meant to help students decrease stress, anxiety, and homesickness while increasing well-being and mood (Grajfoner, Harte, Potter, & Mcguigan, 2017; House, Neal, & Brackels, 2018). Though there is initial research on the effects of animal therapy on individuals (Binfet, Passmore, Cebry, Stuik, & McKay, 2017), the recency of this research area means there is a limited understanding of student motivation, experience, and preferred visit length. This research study aims to learn who attends, why they attend, and what students hope to gain from the experience, as well as the length of time and number of interactions students have with canines and handlers during a drop-in session. In order to address these aims, we will conduct survey and observational research during Hound Hugs & Kanine Kisses Program sessions. This poster will present initial data from only the observational research portion of this study. Observational data on students' length of time at the event and number of interactions with therapy dogs and handlers will be collected. This information can help researchers understand the length of time and number of interactions participants naturally seek out during their visit (i.e., “dose-response relationship”). With the findings from this research, we hope to give supporting statistics as to how college students engage with the canines and handlers to help inform future programming on college campuses.

Recommended Citation

Leibham, Madeline. "College Students' Length of Time and Canine/Handler Interactions at Drop-In Canine Therapy Program." Undergraduate Research Symposium, Mankato, MN, April 2, 2019.
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/urs/2019/poster-session-B/41