Integra Service Dogs Australia Unveils Revolutionary Tool for Matching Assistance Dogs with People Diagnosed with PTSD

Innovative tool for matching assistance dogs with former military and first responders encountering PTSD announced at international conference sponsored by Ceva.

A new risk analysis programme, aimed at successfully matching people diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with assistance dogs, was presented to the recent Assistance Dogs International (ADI) conference, held in Zagreb, Croatia. 

The tool has been developed with Integra Service Dogs Australia, an organisation dedicated to helping former Australian servicemen and women and emergency first responders and their families, to overcome the challenges of PTSD by matching them with highly trained Labrador assistance dogs. 

Dr. Mel Baker developed the tool, based on her experience as a veteran. The assessment evaluates client health and routines together with a ‘whole living’ score to determine a person’s compatibility with an assistance dog. 

The presentation: ‘Empowering Paths to Healing: Evaluating PTSD Applicants for Assistance Dogs with an Integrated Risk Analysis Approach’ was presented to a session at the ADI conference, sponsored by Ceva, and was followed by an interview with Dr. Baker and Alberto Alvarez Campos, Integra’s Chief Operations Officer.