SCH: Synchronous Dyadic Physiological Monitoring for Real Time In Vivo Measurement and

Animal-Assisted Interventions (AAIs) are goal-oriented programs that intentionally incorporate animals,
such as dogs, for therapeutic benefits. AAIs are widely used in a variety of settings, especially for cancer
patients as well as veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). AAI has proven to provide
physiological, psychological, and symptom benefits. The positive effects of AAI are posited to be, in part,
due to the dynamic human-animal bond (HAB). Despite AAI’s popularity, neither comprehensive AAI
assessment methods nor stakeholder-informed, standardized AAI protocols exist including activities critical
for understanding AAI mechanisms of action, the role of the HAB, and the mechanisms by which the HAB
is formed and maintained. Our overall objective is to develop, test, and evaluate an internet of things
software and hardware system for dyadic physiological monitoring of humans and animals in AAI settings,
and to innovate in analytic methods for interpreting the data. The work is important, careful, and systematic
and will yield novel capabilities and information for AAI outcome assessment and intervention development.
Our team has developed and tested an innovative platform that incorporates wearable, wireless sensors
that will simultaneously gather physiological data (i.e., activity, heart rate/variability, respiratory rate,
electrodermal activity) from both humans and dogs involved in AAIs. This novel system will be combined
with psychological (i.e., distress, well- being) and symptom data (i.e., pain, fatigue) collected from the
patient and dog handler. Tasks will include qualitative methods (i.e., focus groups) to elucidate first
stakeholder-informed, standardized AAI protocols. Conducting focus groups including patients, handlers,
and providers will provide information to optimize a structured AAI protocol that can be delivered with a
high level of intervention fidelity, lead to beneficial patient outcomes, and provide controlled settings for
objective, continuous measurement of both patient and dog physiology and behavior.
This work will contribute new capabilities for the in vivo study of the human-animal bond in AAI especially
in oncology and PTSD settings, and new knowledge about the types of interactions that promote, or result
from, stronger human-animal bonds and the role they play in therapeutic outcomes. The populations are
large: the U.S. has had 1.3M-1.8M new cancer patients every year since 1999, and it is estimated that 23%
of the 2.7M veterans suffer from PTSD. The capabilities and knowledge derived from this project will afford
new ways to directly improve the lives of millions of Americans.
RELEVANCE (See instructions):
The proposed research is relevant to NCI as it will contribute new knowledge and tools that illuminate and
enable novel study of the role of Animal-Assisted Interventions (AAI) in oncology treatment. Existing
knowledge strongly suggests AAI can improve wellbeing for oncology patients, but structuring AAI sessions
to promote improved outcomes has been a process of trial-and-error. The novel tools proposed here will
enable new capabilities for customizing AAI for oncology treatment and quantitatively evaluating outcomes.