Human-animal bond research from Purdue conference is focus of open-access journal

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A special issue of the Human-Animal Interaction Bulletin, which is an open-access journal, features scholarship and expertise on several human-animal bond topics that were highlighted during a national conference at Purdue University.

This special issue of the journal focuses on the outcome of workshops held during the Purdue Centers for the Human-Animal Bond Conference, which brought together leaders of centers and institutes for the human-animal bond from around the country in 2016. Sponsored by the Human-Animal Bond Research Initiative Foundation, the conference was the first such gathering in a decade.

“There have been tremendous advances over the last 10 years, and it is very important that key leaders in this field come together to collaborate and lay the groundwork for making further progress,” said Alan Beck, director of the Center for the Human-Animal Bond at Purdue and the Dorothy N. McAllister Professor of Animal Ecology in the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Comparative Pathobiology. Beck and Maggie O’Haire, Purdue veterinary medicine associate professor of human-animal interaction, organized the conference and participated as speakers, workshop leaders and moderators.

O’Haire said the event was a great success with positive feedback from the participants. “The moderated discussions on the second day of the conference were especially beneficial, as we identified key research topics, and developed plans for completing research articles that would set the stage for making further advances in this field,” O’Haire said. “It’s wonderful to see those articles published and available for scholars who will pursue those advances through further study.”

The topics discussed at the conference led to the following articles that are featured in the journal. Access to the journal is free but requires completion of a sign-up form. The topics are:

* “Human-Animal Interaction Interdisciplinary Centers and Institutes: A Decade of Progress,” by O’Haire and Beck.

* “Overview of Centers and Institutes for Human-Animal Interaction in the United States,” by O’Haire, Jessica Bibbo, Christy L. Hoffman, Megan K. Mueller, Zenithson Y. Ng, and Virginia A. Buechner-Maxwell.

* “Animal-Assisted Interventions: Taxonomy and Best Practices,” by Melissa Y. Winkle and Deborah E. Linder.

* “Guide to Human-Animal Interaction Education,” by Phyllis Erdman, Megan. R. LaFollette, Netzin G. Stekles, H. Dieter Steklis, Monique Germone and Lori R. Kogan.

* “The Background to Human-Animal Interaction Research,” by Beck, Sandra Barker, Nancy R. Gee, James A. Griffin and Rebecca Johnson.

* “The State of Assessment in Human-Animal Interaction Research,” by Kerri E. Rodriguez, Noémie A. Guérin, Robin L. Gabriels, James A. Serpell, Pamela J.Schreiner and O’Haire.

* “Multicultural Considerations in Animal-Assisted Intervention,” by Georgitta Valiyamattam, Mariko Yamamoto, Leticia Fanucchi and Feiran Wang.

* “Fostering a More Humane University Environment through Course Work, Service-Learning, and Animal-Assisted Interventions and Activities,” by Aubrey H. Fine, Philip Tedeschi, Teal Mackintosh and Jane Boone.

* “Prevalence of Coursework in Equine-Assisted Activities and Therapies at Universities and Colleges in the United States: A Scoping Review,” by Nina Ekholm Fry, Emily Meszaros and Katie O’Neill. 

Purdue News Service contact: Amy Patterson Neubert, 765-494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu