“Dogs on Call”: A Community-Engaged Human Subjects Training with Hospital Based Therapy Dog Teams

• Published in: Journal of empirical research on human research ethics Vol. 18; no. 5; pp. 363 - 371
• Main Authors: Townsend, Lisa, Towsley, Nyssa, Gee, Nancy R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.12.2023; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Animals; Dogs; Ethics Committees, Research; Humans; Research Design; Research Personnel; Research Subjects; Therapy Animals; IRB performance/quality/assessment/evaluation; behavioral social science research; community-engaged research; Research Ethics Committee/IRB Review; bioethics; collaboration; human subjects training; clinical trials; animal-assisted intervention; Institutional Review Board
• ISSN: 1556-2646; 1556-2654; 1556-2654
• DOI: 10.1177/15562646231191962

Problem: As community-engaged research (CER) methods evolve, Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) must adapt policies to facilitate CER research. This paper describes a novel collaboration between hospital-based therapy dog volunteer teams (CERs), academic faculty, and an IRB. Subjects: CER volunteers delivered a canine-assisted intervention to hospitalized adults in a clinical trial. Methods: IRB members and faculty developed a human subjects protections training tailored to the volunteer handlers’ role as study interventionists including an interactive video- and discussion-based training with a knowledge assessment. Findings: Fourteen volunteer handlers were trained. The expedited IRB review period was similar to national average rates (18 days.) Volunteer handlers have conducted 107 research visits with little patient attrition. Conclusion: Tailored human subjects trainings facilitate research with interventions delivered by people who are not typically involved in research. Bespoke CER human subjects training requires collaboration between researchers and IRBs and flexibility in IRB policy regarding CER.