Pilot of a dog-walking program to foster and support community inclusion for people with cognitive disabilities

Figures & data

Table 1. Participant characteristics.

	Sandra	Sharon	Wendy	James
Age (years)	61	23	37	59
Gender	F	F	F	M
Part I ABS score	267	164	128	159
Total score on the ABC	0	55	17	–
Count of behaviours present on OBS	–	–	–	4
Primary disability	Intellectual	Intellectual	Intellectual	Acquired Brain Injury
Autism spectrum disorder	N	Y	Y	N
Physical impairment	N	N	Y	Y
Visual impairment	N	N	N	Y
Hearing impairment	N	N	N	N
Mental health problems	N	N	N	N
Socially impaired	Y	Y	Y	N
Non-verbal	N	N	Y	N

Figure 1. Single baseline for total number of positive encounters that occurred. The numbers on the x-axis indicate the meeting number in which data collection occurred.

Four AB line graphs plotting the total number of positive encounters that occurred during the first five meetings (baseline Phase A) and the following meetings (intervention Phase B). For Sandra and Wendy, the total number of encounters in Phase B are all above the median data point of the baseline phase. For Sharon and James, all except one (Meeting 15) and two (Meetings 10 and 11) data points respectively, were above the median data point of the baseline phase.

Table 2. Summary of Sandra’s first five meetings (baseline Phase A) in the Dog Buddies program.

Meeting Number	Number and nature of encounters	Handler notes
1	No encounters	“Sandra greeted me with a smile. Very happy to interact with me about what she liked as we walked around the lake.”
2	Two service transaction encounters: Neutral	“Sandra asked for a coffee at the coffee van and handed over money. The barista did not make eye contact with Sandra or engage with conversation (nor did Sandra).”
3	One service transaction encounter: Disrespectful/exclusionary	“We ordered our drinks separately at the cashier counter. Sandra put $3 on the counter and asked for a coffee. The staff member pushed the coins back and directed the comment to me, 'it's $4.10′. Sandra looked in her wallet for money and added $2 to the coins on the counter. Barista looked at, and directed her confirmation of Sandra's order to me.”
4	One service transaction encounter: Friendly/inclusive	“Sandra ordered her coffee… the barista looked directly at Sandra and said, ‘there you go’. Sandra said thank you (no eye contact from Sandra).”
5	One service transaction encounter: Neutral	“Sandra ordered her coffee… [At the end of the meeting] Sandra had remembered that she would be meeting Barney next week and said she was excited about it. She asked me questions about Barney such as 'where does he sleep?' 'what does he eat?’”

Table 3. Summary of Sharon’s first five meetings (baseline Phase A) in the Dog Buddies program.

Meeting Number	Number and nature of encounters	Handler notes
1	Two unfulfilled encounters	“I asked if we could pat [a] dog. The owner was very friendly, included Sharon by inviting her to pat the dog. Sharon was hesitant but approached the dog. When the dog showed no interest, Sharon moved back. She made no eye contact with the person nor did she talk to the person.” The handler reported that Sharon alternated between being happy (when seeing ducks while walking) to irritation (due to cold weather, when she stated ‘I hate this… this is the worst day of my life’).
2	No encounters, as Sharon didn’t want to go outside so the meeting occurred in the day program setting	“Sharon’s support worker explained that Sharon doesn’t like going to the shops unless she has a specific purpose and will not interact with anyone. She won’t like the Marketplace as it is too noisy… Sharon just kept drawing, although her eyes lifted when we were talking about buying presents for our dogs. She did not contribute anything.”
3	Two unfulfilled encounters: Neutral	“Woman walking a small dog and her child. From a distance, Sharon commented to us what a cute dog it was. When we got closer, the dog came towards us. Sharon knelt down to pat the dog. The woman was friendly and answered my question of how old and what type of dog. Sharon did not look at the person during the encounter.” The second encounter was similar: “Later on a couple said good morning to us. I replied with good morning. Sharon did not acknowledge them (kept looking at the ground and walking).” The handler also noted that while Sharon pointed out birds, she remained silent and “she did not engage with me, but seemed relaxed.”
4	No encounters	“Sharon wore noise cancelling headphones for the entire time. She acknowledged me at the start and end of the walk. We observed the birdlife, but Sharon made no verbal comments. When I asked her which path we should take, Sharon responded irritably, 'I don't know'.”
5	One fleeting exchange: Positive/inclusive	“Woman walking her border collie asked her dog, ‘where is your ball?’ The dog came near Sharon who patted it and then responded to the dog, 'there it is,' whilst pointing at the ball. The woman smiled. At other times during the walk Sharon’s comments tend to be directed towards the dogs, rather than to me, or anyone else.”

Table 4. Summary of Sharon’s last six meetings (intervention Phase B) in the Dog Buddies program.

Meeting Number	Number and nature of encounters	Handler notes
10	Two fleeting exchanges: Neutral	“We had smiles from other people. Sharon appeared to be content walking Barney and was happy to say goodbye to Barney at the end of the hour.”
11	Two fleeting exchanges: Positive/inclusive	“When seeing two small dogs being walked, Sharon commented, 'oh, what a cutie'. This was acknowledged by a smile from the owners.” During the meeting, “Sharon was calm, I noticed twice that Sharon was just smiling and having a giggle to herself as we were walking along. She seemed more observant, when walking, we heard a small child cry, we looked and noticed she had fallen off her bike. Sharon showed empathy, as she commented, 'Ooh, that would have hurt'.”
12	Two fleeting exchanges: Positive/inclusive and one unfulfilled encounter	“On two occasions we had smiles from other people, and on a third occasion there was an owner with two small dogs walking the other way. The dogs on lead reached forward to sniff Barney. Sharon stopped and spoke to the dogs ‘look at you. Aren’t you a cutie’. Owner of dogs smiled and said good morning. Sharon did not respond or look at the person, she was just focussed on the dogs. On this day, Sharon was unwell, but in contrast to meeting two, she still wanted to go outside and was happy to walk, but did not interact with me very much. Happy giving Barney treats when we rested at the off-leash area.”
13	Three fleeting exchanges: Convivial	“A man with three dogs was walking the other way, and his dogs reached to bark at Barney, who also barked. Both the man and Sharon told the dogs off. Sharon said 'Naughty. Cut that out. That's not nice'. The man repeated, ‘That’s right. Cut it out’. Sharon was calm, happy to walk Barney, and gave him treats at the rest point. Loved Barney shaking hands and putting his chin on her knee (asking for a treat).”
14	One fleeting and one longer exchange: Convivial	“One man walking the other way smiled at Sharon as she walked Barney. Sharon did not engage in chat. Later there were two young women walking a puppy daschund who pulled on lead to say hello to Barney. Sharon asked if she could pat their dog. The women stopped and chatted about the age and the name. Sharon did not engage in conversation other than to ask if she could pat the puppy. Despite her limited social interaction Sharon's general demeanour was happy and calm.”
15	No encounters; only 15-minute meeting	“Sharon was not feeling well. When she sat on the bench for a rest, 15 min into the walk, Barney 'whined' and nudged her to have a pat. Sharon smiled and thanked Barney for his concern. Sharon really wanted to continue the walk but she was too unwell so she accepted that we needed to return to the car. When saying goodbye, she gave Barney a pat and said 'see you next week’” [for the post-program interview].

Table 5. Summary of Wendy’s first five meetings (baseline Phase A) in the Dog Buddies program.

Meeting Number	Number and nature of encounters	Handler notes
1	No encounters	“Wendy was very tired as she had been to horse therapy in the morning and had to go swimming after our meeting.”
2	One service transaction encounter: Neutral	“Wendy gave the communication card and her debit card to the barista. Barista: 'what size coffee would you like?' Wendy: no response, but support worker said to the barista, 'you decide… up to you… no problem'. Barista organised the payment. Wendy waited for the coffee, said 'thank you’ to the barista…”
3	No encounters	“Wendy was VERY tired as she had been surfing yesterday (surfing for the disabled near Ocean Grove). She did not make any comments during our conversation (as she has in the past meetings).”
4	No encounters, as Wendy didn’t want to go outside so the meeting occurred in her home	“Due to the warm weather Wendy did not want to go out today, but enjoyed cooking lunch with the support worker. We then ate the prepared lunch together.”
5	One unfulfilled encounter	“There was a man with a dog. I asked if we could pat the dog. The man was very happy and friendly, and included Wendy by inviting her to pat the dog. Wendy was hesitant but approached the dog. When the dog showed no interest, Wendy moved back. She made no eye contact with the person nor did she talk to the person.”

Table 6. Summary of James’ first five meetings (baseline Phase A) in the Dog Buddies program.

Meeting Number	Number and nature of encounters	Handler notes
1	One service transaction (positive acknowledged by name); one convivial encounter; unfulfilled encounters.	The handler met James at a café where he meets a group of eight people regularly for breakfast. As a result, James was acknowledged by name during the service transaction, “Would you like some water, James?' James: ‘no thanks’.” James also had a convivial encounter with a friend, “Friend came and sat next to James and they had a chat about football… Both smiled and enjoyed the banter. Much more talk from friend than James.” In referring to the unfulfilled encounters, the handler noted: “James sat at the table with others. He did not interact verbally with others unless he was asked a direct question.”
2	No encounters; unfulfilled encounters	James was at the café with a friend when the handler arrived. Regarding the unfulfilled encounters, it is difficult to count the number of interactions someone could have had. The hander noted: "James rarely talks, I think he is conscious that it is not easy to understand his speech. He listened to the conversations around the table.”
3	No encounters; unfulfilled encounters	“James listened to the conversations around the table, but did not talk to anyone. He spoke to his support worker, seems to find it easy to talk to her, but with me he seems to find it easier to explain to his support worker who translates.”
4	No encounters; unfulfilled encounters	“James seemed content listening to conversations around the table, but did not join in.”
5	One service transaction: Positive/inclusive	James and the handler went for a short walk then went to the café for morning tea. “James asked for 'dead eggs' to which the waitress needed clarification, 'well cooked' – responded James’s support worker. Waitress response towards James, 'I've never heard of that before'. The waitress was new to serving so James asked her what her name was, and she told him.”

Data availability statement

Due to the nature of this research, participants of this study did not agree for their data to be shared publicly, so supporting data is not available.