The Development of a Management System for Animal-Assisted Services (AAS)

HRSO Inc.
Standards Development Organisation:
Human Research Standards Organization (HRSO)
Designation Number:
CAN/HRSO-500.01-2021
Standard Type:
National Standard of Canada - Domestic
Standard Development Activity:
New Standard
ICS code(s):
03.100.30 03.100.70 03.080.30
Status:
Proceeding to development
SDO Comment Period Start Date:
SDO Comment Period End Date:
Posted On:

Scope:

The proposed National Standard of Canada (NSC) applies to all types of Animal-Assisted Services (AAS), including therapies, activities, assistance, crisis response, and interventions accessed by persons with visible and invisible disabilities, life-altering injuries, and other daily challenges. This NSC applies to all Canadians, including end-users, consumers, regulators, sponsors/donors, third-party conformity assessment bodies, AAS practitioners, service providers, volunteers, advocates, researchers, educational, healthcare, social services, justice, public safety, and correctional services workers, within the private, public, and voluntary sectors. This NSC outlines requirements for developing a management system for AAS, including an organizational and administration framework for service delivery.

Project need:

The Canadian Foundation for Animal-Assisted Support Services (CFAS) has expressed the need for CAN/HRSO-500.01-2021 in order to promote and facilitate service excellence across Canada. Animal-Assisted Services (AAS) are mutually beneficial relationships that nurture One Health for People, Pets, and PartnersTM. Health in this context includes the physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being of people of all ages and the welfare of pets in service and other animals in service (Source: The Canadian Foundation for Animal-Assisted Support Services (CFAS)). AAS is a growing, multi-faceted and multi-disciplinary sector comprised of complementary industries. Because AAS is unregulated at both the provincial and federal levels, practitioners' and service providers' credibility is questionable, resulting in increased risks to end-users, consumers and their families, and the animals involved in service delivery. Additionally, the lexicon related to AAS is inconsistent and confusing, compromising quality, credibility, and measuring the impact of outcomes. Systemic inconsistencies and gaps also complicate accessing AAS in Canada. An NSC for the development of a management system for AAS will: • increase transparency and accountability • establish minimum standards and best practices for AAS administration • encompass best practices for economic development, partnerships, and collaborative approaches that benefit people, the animals, regulators, and businesses • benefit donors, sponsors, grant-makers, volunteers, and • promote a voluntary, third-party, AAS conformity assessment program to cultivate a credibility chain.

Note: The information provided above was obtained by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) and is provided as part of a centralized, transparent notification system for new standards development. The system allows SCC-accredited Standards Development Organizations (SDOs), and members of the public, to be informed of new work in Canadian standards development, and allows SCC-accredited SDOs to identify and resolve potential duplication of standards and effort.

Individual SDOs are responsible for the content and accuracy of the information presented here. The text is presented in the language in which it was provided to SCC.