2024 Pets Are Wonderful Supports…Usually: Ethical, Legal and Practical Implications of Emotional Support, Service and Therapy Animals in Oncology Settings
December 12, 2024
Session Description: Companion animals play important roles in many individuals’ lives. Some animals also have jobs: as service animals, therapy animals and emotional support animals. But as more animals are in public settings, guidelines, regulations and policies for how to handle these “working animals” have become increasingly muddy. As social workers, we may be asked to write letters on behalf of our clients to justify a need for an emotional support animal—but do we even know what this means? Do our clients? Are we putting ourselves at risk ethically and legally by writing these letters? Can we be better advocates for establishing visiting animal programs in our treatment centers to help our patients cope with their treatments? How do we interpret the ADA and other laws to guide our practice?
This webinar will unpack the nuances between service, therapy and emotional support animals and how, why, and where they are legally permitted to work. We will then shift to talk about the legal and ethical quandaries social workers may face when asked to write letters for our clients and use case examples to highlight some of the challenges we may face in our clinical practice. Finally, a framework for intervention and education at micro and macro levels will be presented for participants to think about how they can influence policy and procedure at their own treatment centers.
Speakers:
Christina Bach, MBE, MSW, LCSW, OSW-C, FAOSW is an advance practice clinical oncology social worker, bioethicist and educator. Christina has completed Sensitive Practice Training for Cancer Care Professionals (Mt. Sinai/Icahn School of Medicine), post-Masters certificates in Trauma (Bryn Mawr Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research), Plain Language Communication for Healthcare Professionals (Michener Institute of Education at UHN, Toronto, Canada) and End of life Care (Smith College School for Social Work).
Christina also has training in clinical mediation through Penn’s Bioethics Department/School of Medicine. Christina is the Psychosocial Content Editor and content creator at OncoLink.org (Penn Medicine), a Financial Specialist (Cancer Support Community Helpline) and Field Liaison at the Bryn Mawr Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research.
Learning Objectives
After completing this activity, participants will be able to:
CE credits: 1.5, which will be available for $25.
Click here to view Continuing Education information.
Category: Ethics
Educational Level: Intermediate
This webinar will unpack the nuances between service, therapy and emotional support animals and how, why, and where they are legally permitted to work. We will then shift to talk about the legal and ethical quandaries social workers may face when asked to write letters for our clients and use case examples to highlight some of the challenges we may face in our clinical practice. Finally, a framework for intervention and education at micro and macro levels will be presented for participants to think about how they can influence policy and procedure at their own treatment centers.
Speakers:
Christina Bach, MBE, MSW, LCSW, OSW-C, FAOSW is an advance practice clinical oncology social worker, bioethicist and educator. Christina has completed Sensitive Practice Training for Cancer Care Professionals (Mt. Sinai/Icahn School of Medicine), post-Masters certificates in Trauma (Bryn Mawr Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research), Plain Language Communication for Healthcare Professionals (Michener Institute of Education at UHN, Toronto, Canada) and End of life Care (Smith College School for Social Work).Christina also has training in clinical mediation through Penn’s Bioethics Department/School of Medicine. Christina is the Psychosocial Content Editor and content creator at OncoLink.org (Penn Medicine), a Financial Specialist (Cancer Support Community Helpline) and Field Liaison at the Bryn Mawr Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research.
Learning Objectives
After completing this activity, participants will be able to:
- Differentiate between service, therapy and emotional support animals and provide education to patients, caregivers and staff about the important differences between each of these classifications.
- Describe the ethical and legal challenges posed by emotional support animal verification letter requests.
- Develop a plan for addressing emotional support animal requests with their own clients as well as work with their agency and the local veterinary community to build interprofessional relationships that support patient’s needs and the human-animal bond.
CE credits: 1.5, which will be available for $25.
Click here to view Continuing Education information.
Category: Ethics
Educational Level: Intermediate