Reducing Anxiety of Students Participating in Simulations by Inclusion of an Animal-Assisted Intervention

Overview: Simulations are novel teaching method that many schools have adapted into their curriculum; however, many students feel anxiety prior to simulations which could minimize learning. In order to lower student anxiety an animal-assisted intervention was provided as a way to ease student anxieties prior to participation in the simulation.Proposal text: Using simulations as a teaching method in social work has become increasingly common and data suggests that they are a positive teaching tool for BSW and MSW students. Simulations are unique in that they allow social work students the opportunity to practice their clinical skills prior to fieldwork in a safe environment where they can receive feedback and later improve upon their competency as social workers. While this teaching method is highly lauded there is an issue of students feeling anxiety prior to their participation in simulations. As anxiety is known to be detrimental to student learning, our aim was to find a way to minimizing anxiety about simulations through an Animal-Assisted Intervention (AAI).

AAI's are known to have a positive impact on college students mental health and well-being. Studies specifically show a reduction in anxiety. By having students’ interact with the therapy dog, we hypothesized that students would feel less anxiety prior to participating in simulations, and therefore would have a better learning experience from the simulations.

The study utilized a control group that received no additional or new interventions prior to the simulation, and an experimental group that was able to interact with the therapy dog for 15-minutes before their participation in the simulation. Groups were randomized to be either control or experimental.

Prior to their involvement in simulations, students were asked to take a modified version of the GAD-7 to specifically indicate their levels of anxiety regarding the teaching method. This measure was given once again after students in the experimental group engaged in the AAI and right before the simulations began, and to the students in the control group who received no additional intervention before the simulations began; this was to see if there was a significant difference in self-reported anxiety regarding their engagement in simulations. Additionally, focus groups were held after the simulations to gain a deeper understanding of how the students felt about the simulations and the inclusion of an AAI being used in order to impact anxiety levels, and whether they felt more prepared to participate in simulations post the AAI.

Data from the study will allow for better understanding of whether AAIs can reduce student anxiety in simulations. More research, however, will be needed to understand whether such interventions can also improve student competencies.