Foltin Sandra, Glenk Lisa Maria
Department of Biology, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45141 Essen, Germany.
Comparative Medicine, The Interuniversity Messerli Research Institute of the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, 1210 Vienna, Austria.
Vet Sci. 2023 Jan 15;10(1):62. doi: 10.3390/vetsci10010062.
The prevalence of mental health disorders, driven by current global crises, is notably high. During the past decades, the popularity of dogs assisting humans with a wide spectrum of mental health disorders has significantly increased. Notwithstanding these dogs' doubtless value, research on their legal status, certification processes, training and management practices, as well as their welfare status, has been scarce. This scoping review highlights that in contrast to other assistance dogs such as guide dogs, there exists no consistent terminology to mark dogs that assist humans with impaired mental health. Legal authorities monitoring the accreditation process, training and tracking of mental health supporting dogs are broadly lacking, with only few exceptions. This review emphasizes the need to address several topics in the promotion of progress in legal and welfare issues related to assistance dogs as well as emotional support dogs for humans with a mental health disorder. The current body of knowledge was assessed in three different areas of focus: (1) the legal dimension including definitions and certification processes; (2) the dimension of performed tasks; and (3) the dog welfare dimension including aspects of the relationship with the handler and risks associated with children recipients. Considering the challenges associated with a mental health diagnosis, collaborations of dog provider organizations and health care professionals would be desirable to continuously assess the efficiency of the human-dog dyad regarding their overall compatibility, general satisfaction and mutual well-being.
由当前全球危机驱动，心理健康障碍的患病率显著升高。在过去几十年里，狗协助人类应对各种心理健康障碍的情况显著增加。尽管这些狗无疑具有价值，但关于它们的法律地位、认证程序、训练和管理实践以及福利状况的研究却很匮乏。本综述强调，与导盲犬等其他辅助犬不同，对于协助有心理健康问题的人类的狗，不存在一致的术语来标识它们。广泛缺乏对心理健康支持犬的认证过程、训练和追踪进行监管的法律权威机构，仅有少数例外情况。本综述强调，在促进与辅助犬以及为有心理健康障碍的人类提供情感支持的犬相关的法律和福利问题取得进展方面，有必要解决几个主题。当前的知识体系在三个不同的重点领域进行了评估：（1）法律层面，包括定义和认证程序；（2）执行任务的层面；（3）犬福利层面，包括与主人关系的方面以及与儿童接受者相关的风险。考虑到心理健康诊断相关的挑战，狗的供应组织和医疗保健专业人员之间的合作将是可取的，以便持续评估人犬二元组在整体兼容性、总体满意度和相互福祉方面的效率。
