Yount Rick A, Olmert Meg D, Lee Mary R
Warrior Canine Connection, Inc, Brookeville, Maryland, USA.
US Army Med Dep J. 2012 Apr-Jun:63-9.
In July 2008, social worker and certified service dog trainer Rick Yount created the first Warrior dog-training program designed to be a safe, effective, nonpharmaceutical intervention to treat the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury in Veterans and service members undergoing treatment at a large Veterans Administration residential treatment facility. In 2009, Yount was asked to establish the program at a prominent Department of Defense medical center. In October 2010, Yount was invited to create a service dog training program to support the research and treatment mission at the new National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE), in Bethesda, Maryland. This program, now being offered through the nonprofit foundation Warrior Canine Connection, continues to produce anecdotal evidence that training service dogs reduces the PTSD symptoms of Warrior-trainers and that the presence of the dogs enhances the sense of wellness in the NICoE staff and the families of our Wounded Warriors. Under the research leadership of the NICoE, the Warrior Canine Connection research team plans to systematically investigate the physiological, psychological, and behavioral benefits of this program.
2008年7月，社会工作者兼注册服务犬训练师里克·扬特创建了首个战士犬训练项目，该项目旨在成为一种安全、有效的非药物干预手段，用于治疗在一家大型退伍军人事务部住院治疗机构接受治疗的退伍军人和现役军人的创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）症状和创伤性脑损伤。2009年，扬特受邀在一家著名的国防部医疗中心设立该项目。2010年10月，扬特受邀在马里兰州贝塞斯达的新国家英勇卓越中心（NICoE）创建一个服务犬训练项目，以支持该中心的研究和治疗任务。目前通过非营利性基金会“战士犬连接”提供的这个项目，继续产生一些传闻证据，表明训练服务犬可减轻战士训练者的PTSD症状，而且这些犬的存在能增强NICoE工作人员和我们受伤战士家属的健康感。在NICoE的研究领导下，“战士犬连接”研究团队计划系统地调查该项目在生理、心理和行为方面的益处。
