We are thrilled to announce that a recent study by the B.A.R.K. team has been published in Anthrozoös! Researchers at UBC Okanagan (John-Tyler Binfet, Zakary Draper, Freya Green, Akshat Singal and Camille Rousseau) collaborated with colleagues at Brock University (Christine Tardif-Williams and Renata Roma) to pivot B.A.R.K. to a virtual platform during the COVID-19 pandemic!
This study sought to understand whether synchronous and asynchronous interactions with B.A.R.K. handlers and therapy dogs impacted undergraduate student well-being.
“Participants, regardless of condition, reported significant reductions in anxiety, stress, loneliness, and negative affect and more positive emotional states and stronger feelings of connectedness to their campus”
We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the handlers and therapy canines who volunteered for the program, the research assistants who played vital roles in the planning and implementation, and all the students who participated!
This publication can be found on the Anthrozoös website using the citation below:
Binfet, J. T., Tardif-Williams, C. Y., Draper, Z. A., Green, F. L. L., Singal, A., Rousseau, C. X., & Roma, R. (in press). Virtual Canine Comfort: A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Effects of a Canine-Assisted Intervention Supporting Undergraduate Wellbeing, Anthrozoös. https://doi.org/10.1080/08927936.2022.2062866