![\"Maggie](\"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/IMG_5718_O_Haire_sm-1024x1011.jpg\")
On each PVM Research Day, the recipient of the previous years\u2019 Zoetis Award is one of the featured speakers. During her talk, Dr. O\u2019Haire highlighted the importance of research in the field of human-animal interaction, especially in relation to the use of service dogs. Focusing her comments primarily on service dogs as a therapy for veterans suffering with PTSD, Dr. O\u2019Haire explained how research can lead to greater support for these programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. O\u2019Haire pointed out that approximately 20 percent of veterans are diagnosed with PTSD, of which only 50 percent seek treatment. Twenty to 40 percent of those in treatment drop out. Dr. O\u2019Haire explained that her team\u2019s research has provided evidence that service dogs can alleviate some PTSD symptoms. The data, collected via self-report surveys and stress hormone level testing, is limited but promising. Veterans reported fewer PTSD symptoms and improved mood, while the testing of samples showed healthier levels of stress hormones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Dr. O\u2019Haire, so far, the research already has helped lead to the signing of the federal Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers (PAWS) for Veterans Therapy Act<\/a>. The new law requires the Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a> \u201c\u2026 to conduct a five-year pilot program to provide canine training to eligible veterans diagnosed with PTSD, as an element of a complementary and integrative health program.\u201d While that milestone is significant, Dr. O\u2019Haire emphasized the importance of further research to establish additional documentation showing that service dog programs are worth the investment. Service dogs are already in high demand and she points out that increased public support and funding not only would help people who stand to benefit from service dogs, but also would help to maximize the effectiveness of these working dogs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. O\u2019Haire also briefly discussed other examples of service dog programs, including those that involve providing facility dogs for pediatric oncology centers and service dogs for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Pediatric oncology facility dogs have been shown to help hospital personnel reduce burnout, turnover, and improve mental health. Dr. O\u2019Haire concluded her talk by explaining how these other service dog applications also require further research to satisfactorily document their efficacy and help heighten support for service dog programs of all kinds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recordings of this presentation as well as panel discussions, additional presenters throughout the day, and the award presentations are available on the PVM Research Day webpage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One of the unique springtime opportunities for the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine is a day set aside to showcase Purdue veterinary medical scholarship through special presentations, including talks by some of the college\u2019s premier researchers.\u00a0An example at this year\u2019s PVM Research Day on April 12 involved an insightful look at the science behind the human-animal bond by the winner of the 2021 Zoetis Award for Veterinary Research Excellence, Dr. Maggie O\u2019Haire, professor of human-animal interaction in the Department of Comparative Pathobiology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":15570,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,817,29,11],"tags":[123,26,56,58,242,59],"class_list":["post-15562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty-staff","category-human-animal-bond","category-our-people","category-research","tag-cpb","tag-featured-story","tag-homepage","tag-maggie-ohaire","tag-pvm-research-day","tag-zoetis"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15562"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33760,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15562\/revisions\/33760"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}