What are service animals and therapy animals?
• Service animals are working dogs that have been individually trained to perform specific tasks or duties directly for the benefit of individuals with disabilities.
• Therapy animals are animals that have received specific certification and are used in settings such as hospitals, nursing homes, or community facilities. Working alongside professionals, they provide “animal-assisted therapy”—offering companionship and interaction to help individuals alleviate emotional distress and improve their physical or psychological well-being.
What health conditions can service animals help manage? (List at least 5)
• Visual Impairment: Guide dogs assist individuals with visual impairments in navigating their daily environment—helping them avoid obstacles, traverse stairs, and move about safely.
• Hearing Impairment: Hearing dogs alert individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing to significant sounds, such as doorbells, fire alarms, telephone rings, or a baby crying.
• Epilepsy and Seizure Disorders: Seizure alert/response dogs can warn their owners before a seizure occurs, protect them from injury during an episode, and assist with recovery or seek help from others afterward.
• Diabetes: Diabetic alert dogs use their keen sense of smell to detect chemical changes in the body’s odor caused by dangerously high or low blood sugar levels, providing timely alerts so their owners can take corrective action.
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Psychiatric service dogs help individuals manage PTSD, panic attacks, and severe anxiety. They can detect the onset of emotional distress, provide “deep pressure therapy” to help calm their owners, or perform tasks such as entering an unfamiliar space first to turn on lights or creating a buffer zone to provide personal space.
How can having a service animal contribute to an individual’s physical and mental well-being (hauora)?
Having a service animal can effectively reduce an individual’s anxiety levels, facilitate daily activities, and significantly enhance their capacity for independent living by providing round-the-clock physical and mental support, as well as emotional companionship.
Provide images showing how service animals assist with 4 different health conditions.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UdtdnVHN7JxHx6VHGxEUjdRFd9cOzpcP96197NFhqdk/edit?tab=t.0