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

Area of Science:

• Clinical Research
• Community-Engaged Research (CER)

Background:

• Community-engaged research (CER) methods are evolving.
• Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) need to adapt policies to support CER.
• Hospital-based therapy dog volunteer teams can participate in clinical trials.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a novel collaboration between therapy dog volunteer teams, academic faculty, and an IRB.
• To develop and implement a tailored human subjects protection training for volunteer handlers delivering a canine-assisted intervention.
• To assess the feasibility and efficiency of IRB review and study implementation.

Main Methods:

• Developed a specialized human subjects protection training for volunteer handlers.
• Training included interactive video, discussion, and a knowledge assessment.
• IRB members and faculty collaborated on training content tailored to the volunteers' role.

Main Results:

• Fourteen volunteer handlers completed the tailored training.
• Expedited IRB review averaged 18 days, comparable to national rates.
• Volunteers successfully conducted 107 research visits with minimal patient attrition.

Conclusions:

• Tailored human subjects training effectively supports research involving interventionists not typically involved in research.
• Bespoke CER training necessitates collaboration between researchers and IRBs.
• IRB policy flexibility is crucial for facilitating CER.