Benefits and challenges of mobility and medical alert service dogs for caregivers of service dog recipients.
Leanne O Nieforth, Kerri E Rodriguez, Marguerite E O'Haire
PMID 34077328WHAT IT FOUND
Caregivers of mobility and medical service dog recipients described family emotional support and caregiver bonding, but also time, grooming, travel and unexpected costs.
Waitlist caregivers expected fewer family benefits and more task benefits than caregivers with a dog described.
Key findings
01The most common family benefit mentioned by caregivers with a service dog was emotional support at 17%, and the most common caregiver benefit was the caregiver-dog bond at 19%.
02Drawbacks were mentioned by 89% of caregivers with a service dog, most often extra work and responsibility at 29%.
03Caregivers on the waitlist mentioned anticipated family benefits in 16% of responses and anticipated training benefits in 58% of responses.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The survey questions did not directly ask who the service dog helped, so caregiver and family benefits may be underreported. The analysis combined parents, spouses, and adult children, so caregiver type differences are not shown. The analysis combined mobility, diabetic alert, and seizure response dogs, so dog type differences are not shown. The analysis combined disability categories and recipient ages. The study captured one time point, so adjustment over time is not known. All dogs came from Canine Assistants, which provides dogs free of charge and covers routine veterinary, food, and training costs, so costs and drawbacks may differ elsewhere.
Declared interests
The authors report no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that service dogs improve caregiver or family well-being. This qualitative study reports what caregivers said when asked open-ended questions, and it did not test the dogs as an intervention.