Centre for Research into Practice: Staff Research Summaries
Helen Lewis, Russell Grigg, Cathryn Knight Evaluation of 'Empathy Animal' programme
HL2
What we did
What we wanted to find out
Video analysis of weekly sessions: Inner-London Primary School, 3 trained teams of dogs and handlers and 8 children.
Do regular sessions with the dogs improve children's self- esteem, confidence and social skills?
What we found
1
Relationships take time to grow.
2
Different personalities (human and canine) shape the session.
All children say they enjoy sessions.
3
Gain confidence interacting with handler.
4
Key recommendations for best practice
Handlers actively listen to children. Handlers observe and explain the dog's behaviour throughout. A dog's interests (a ball) considered alongside children's interests.
To find out more
Dr Helen Lewis, Associate Professor, Swansea University: helen.e.lewis@swansea.ac.uk
Made with FlippingBook HTML5