School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Flora Hill, Australia.
Research Education and Development Team, Graduate Research School, La Trobe University, Flora Hill, Australia.
Disabil Rehabil. 2021 Oct;43(21):3041-3051. doi: 10.1080/09638288.2020.1728399. Epub 2020 Feb 20.
First-time assistance dog handlers experience a profound life change when they bring an assistance dog into their home. Therefore, this article investigates the broad context of handlers' lived experiences prior to and throughout the first year after acquiring an assistance dog.
To understand holistic experiences better, semi-structured interviews were conducted with first-time assistance dog handlers ( = 7), parents ( = 7), assistance dog instructors ( = 6), carers/other individuals ( = 3) at four time points: before an individual received an assistance dog, and then at three further times for up to one year after they received the assistance dog.
Inductive content analysis revealed that four main contextual factors (societal, social support, environmental and personal) influenced the lived experience of working with an assistance dog. Many of these factors were outside of the handler and the assistance dog organization's control, and they were shown to cause many challenges for handlers.
These factors must, therefore, be taken into consideration when organizations make decisions about placing an assistance dog.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONSocietal influences can both hinder and facilitate the benefits first-time handlers receive with their assistance dog in public.Support from others is important to successfully integrate an assistance dog into a first-time handler's life.A handler's level of environmental control can influence their experiences with their assistance dog.Personal factors such as a handler's experience of disability and motivation or resilience can impact experiences with their assistance dog.
首次使用辅助犬的人在将辅助犬带入家中时会经历深刻的生活变化。因此，本文研究了辅助犬饲养员在获得辅助犬之前和获得辅助犬后的第一年中所经历的广泛背景。
为了更好地了解整体体验，对 7 名首次使用辅助犬的饲养员、7 名家长、6 名辅助犬指导员、3 名护理人员/其他人员进行了半结构化访谈，在四个时间点进行：在个人获得辅助犬之前，然后在他们获得辅助犬后的另外三个时间点进行，最长可达一年。
归纳内容分析显示，四个主要的背景因素（社会、社会支持、环境和个人）影响了与辅助犬一起工作的生活体验。其中许多因素超出了饲养员和辅助犬组织的控制范围，并且给饲养员带来了许多挑战。
因此，在组织做出关于放置辅助犬的决定时，必须考虑这些因素。
社会影响既可以阻碍也可以促进首次使用者在公共场合使用辅助犬的好处。来自他人的支持对于成功地将辅助犬融入首次使用者的生活中非常重要。饲养员对环境的控制程度会影响他们与辅助犬的体验。饲养员的残疾经历、动机或适应能力等个人因素会影响他们与辅助犬的体验。
