Paws Your Stress: Student Perspectives of An Animal Assisted Activity Program

This qualitative study examines an Animal Assisted Activity (AAA) program in a post-secondary setting. Basic Interpretive Qualitative Research Design (BIQRD) is utilized to provide detailed information about students’ experiences of PAWS Your Stress, a current AAA program at a Midwestern Canadian university. Four participants were interviewed about their personally significant experiences of the AAA program. Questions centred on three main areas: impact on student stress and coping, perceived meaning gained from experiences of the program, and students’ perceptions of “love and support” as part of their participation. Transcriptions from these student interviews were analyzed to identify common themes that arose from their answers. Through inductive analysis, two overarching categories - stress relief and meaningful interactions – were found to contain five main themes. Three themes – being in the moment, social benefits, and variations in coping ability are discussed in relation to stress relief and coping. Two themes – personalized interactions and reciprocity are discussed in relation to the meaning participants derived from participation in the program. Findings may improve understanding of certain aspects of the program that enable students to relieve stress and find meaning in their interactions with therapy dogs. Results may impact future implementation of similar programming on campuses and improve the quality of existing AAA programming aimed at similar demographic groups