ADI is very excited to announce that the 2023 ADI Conference is going to be a hybrid format with In-Person and Virtual components for this year - September 10-13, 2023.
The ADI Conference Committee has selected the Westin Hotel in Zagreb, Croatia as the host hotel for the 2023 Conference. ADI Board would like to thank Marijan Sesar and Centar Za Rehabilitaciju Silver for their patience and perseverance the last three years offering to be the member host for the conference. Zagreb was selected for its beautiful city, historical sites and surroundings as well as easy access to Centar Silver for a tour of their facilities.
The conference will again be a hybrid conference offering both in-person and virtual attendance options. The conference will begin with a Welcome Reception on Sunday, September 10th and conclude on Wednesday, September 13th at 5pm. Optional tours and excursions will be planned before and after the conference. Registration costs and hotel room costs will be announced soon. ADI hopes our members take advantage of any vacation travel plans and visit the incredible beautiful coast of Croatia. More details will be announced as they become available.
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GUEST SPEAKERS
Opening Keynote Speaker
Dr. Janice Lloyd
Title: Applying Canine Science to Help Assistance Dogs Live their Happiest Life
Description:
The field of canine science continues to blossom, especially around dogs’ emotional needs. For every physical experience an animal has, there is an effect on their mental wellbeing. This presentation will discuss some of the latest studies in companion animal psychology (the science of people’s relationships with their pets) and animal welfare science to gain insights into the inner lives of dogs and use this knowledge to help assistance dogs live their best lives.
Biography:
Janice is an Associate Professor in Veterinary Behaviour, Welfare and Ethics at James Cook University, Townsville, Australia. She teaches veterinary students Animal Behaviour and Welfare Science, including behaviour problems in companion animals. Janice undertook a PhD at Massey University in New Zealand on matching people with guide dogs and the dogs’ effects on mobility and quality of life. She is passionate about the human-animal bond and the welfare of animals and has published extensively in these areas. Janice now lives with her veterinarian husband, Richard, several foster cats and dogs and a plethora of wildlife in tropical North Queensland.
Prof. Silvia Philipps Reichherzer
Title: Disability, Assistance dogs and client independence – applied neuro science in interaction between client and dog
Description:
Lecture will be review of recently published findings on behavioral synchronization and affiliation between dogs and humans. Until recently, little was known about phenomena of behavioral synchronization an interspecific level. As dogs are able to use human-directional cues or to produce referential cues towards humans there is behavioral synchronization that acts as a social glue between dogs and humans.
Biography:
Prof. Silvia Philipps Reichherzer is clinical psychologist, specialized in sensory based early intervention, Marte Meo licensed supervisor, Montessori special educator, long term experienced in work with children with special needs and puppy walker of many successful assistance dogs, secretary of Croatian Academy for developmental habilitation, which is branch of European Academy for Child Disability
Prof.dr.sc.Marina Ajdukovic
Title: Supervision - essential tool for quality improvement of services and prevention of helpers' burnout
Biography:
Professor Marina Ajduković (PhD psychologist) is tenure professor at the Department of Social Work, Faculty of Law, at the University of Zagreb. She is head of the Doctoral program in Social Work and Social Policy and the head of the Postgraduate training program in supervision. Her research interests include professional stress and secondary traumatisation, evaluation and action research, domestic violence, long term consequences of war traumatisation, impact of war on traumatised clients and on professionals. She has published more than 250 papers in journals and books, has authored 12 books and edited another 12 books. Presented papers at more than 60 international conferences in Europe and USA (https://www.bib.irb.hr/pregled/znanstvenici/119206).
She is a founding member of the NGO Society for Psychological Assistance, distinguished regional professional organization where she works as family therapist and supervisor. As well she is an active member of international professional associations such as ISPCAN (International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect), ANSE (Association of National Organisations for Supervision in Europe), and Board member of the ESTSS (European Society for Trauma Stress Studies).
Claire Guest OBE BSc (Hons) MSc HonDSc DHP BCAh FRSA
Title: Enhanced understanding for enhanced relationships. What Dogs want us to know.
Description:
Throughout history, dogs have fulfilled a range of different functions and in addition to more traditional assistance dog roles more recently canines are trained to support a range of disease detection and medical support tasks. There is with growing evidence of elevated levels of ‘signature’ volatile organic compound (VOCs) associated with disease and changes in health status. As medical usage expands, it is imperative that the value of these dogs is objectively assessed, their potential capabilities are optimised, and these abilities are used to further understanding of disease diagnostics. Medical Detection Dogs (MDD) pioneers both medical assistance and disease detection and is committed to carrying out empirical research to improve operations and to inform future medical technologies.
Our Medical Alert Assistance Dogs use olfactory alerting ability for day-to-day support for people living with chronic conditions. More recently MDD has been researching the canine ability to detect the virus COVID-19. This work has provided evidence that dogs can detect the odour of a person with a disease in amongst other individuals and we are now assessing the accuracy of dogs when screening people in real world settings.
To maximise canine olfactory ability and the benefits to both humans and dogs, it is essential that we understand and appreciate how dogs can detect disease, the impact that this has on them, and the ways in which we can enhance detection and communication. This will ensure that is not stress provoking but builds harmony and understanding in the human- dog partnership.
In this work, the dog leads the way, In disease or health status detection we are often unaware of exactly how the dog is able to make accurate pre-alert, we are not able to identify specifically the VOCs that the dog is using as a stimulus marker and often, as is the case with POTS, there is currently no technology that is able to make a prediction with such accuracy. To develop and achieve the full potential for this work we need to further understand our dogs, the world in which they live and their challenges to communication. Better understanding will enable this relationship to flourish further, I believe truly that this is only the tip of the iceberg.
Biography:
Dr Claire Guest obtained a BSc in Psychology in 1986, followed by an MSc in Psychology by research. She is a member of the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors and was Director of Operations & Research at Hearing Dogs for Deaf People. Claire directed one of the first studies in the world to train dogs to identify cancer by odour publishing a robust proof of principle in the BMJ September 2004. Claire became Co-Founder of Medical Detection Dogs (MDD) in 2008 a charity that trains both Bio-detection and Medical Assistance Dogs and is the Chief Executive and Chief Scientific Officer. In 2011 Claire was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the development of new approaches for the detection of life-threatening diseases. In January 2015 she was awarded a British Citizen Award for health and in 2016 received the CBI National First Women award for Science and Technology. Claire is also a frequent peer reviewed author in scientific journals, and in 2016 she wrote “Daisy’s Gift”, about the formation of the charity and her remarkable dog ‘Daisy’, who indicated her own breast cancer. Claire regularly presents at conferences around the world, and frequently appears on national television and radio to discuss and promote the pioneering work and research of MDD. Claire’s current work includes detection of bacteria, prostate cancer and COVID-19 among other conditions and diseases.
Prof.dr.sc.Kerstin Uvnas Moberg (Sweden)
Title: Positive relationships, the role of oxytocin for attachment, wellbeing antistress and health
Description:
Moberg will talk about the therapeutic effect of animals on psychological and physiological aspects of our health. She would also discuss the mechanisms by which interaction with animals induces these effects in particular the role of the oxytocin system!
Biography:
Kerstin Uvnäs Moberg was also one of the first to study the role of oxytocin in response to closeness and touch as well as its role during interaction between parents and children and other types of relationships including that between humans and animals. She has done many studies with animals, She has hold many positions at different Universities including dogs (labs), has written many books including with title: Attachment to pets and Dog time: Talk, pet, play, heal with the oxytocin bomb in the living room
http://www.kerstinuvnasmoberg.
Prof Daniel S. Mills BVSc PhD
Professor Daniel S. Mills BVSc PhD CBiol FRSB FHEA CCAB Dip ECAWBM(BM) FRCVS, RCVS and EBVS European Veterinary Specialist in Behavioural Medicine
Title: How We Read Dogs
Description:
Understanding dog behaviour is critical to the safe practice of dog assisted interventions as well as the welfare of dogs involved in this work. Although much is written about dog body language and what it means, the scientific picture is less clear. Not only do we not understand as much as we might think about the meaning of different signs, there is also a tendency to oversimplify and over-generalise the meaning of specific signs. Our own work has also shown that knowing what signs to look for and being able to recognise them in practice are two, quite different and separate processes. This has important implications for teaching others (practitioners and patients) how to understand dog behaviour and how we assess their competence. In this presentation I will discuss these issues further and offer solutions to help us all become better readers of dogs.
Biography:
Dr Mills is professor of Veterinary Behavioural Medicine at the University of Lincoln, UK. He is a practising veterinary surgeon and academic who specialises in the management of problem behaviour and the human-animal bond. In 2004 he was the first individual to be recognised by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons as a specialist in veterinary behavioural medicine, and in 2016 was further recognised by them as the first individual to be granted Fellowship status for his contributions to this field. He was also Europe’s first professor of his discipline and has pioneered a scientific transformation of our understanding of companion animal problem behaviour, through the development of a “psychobiological approach” to clinical animal behaviour assessment. He is also included in Stanford University’s 2020 list of the top 2% of scientists in the world.
More recently he has worked extensively on the wider implications of human animal relationships including the economic significance of companion animals and health benefits of animal assisted interventions. He has published more than 200 full peer-reviewed scientific articles and more than 60 books and chapters. He runs an audio and YouTube podcast series “What makes you click?”, which features chats with inspirational friends in the field of animal behaviour he has had the benefit of getting to know over the course of his career (https://www.facebook.com/dsmpod).
Mihaela Grubisic
Profesor Lecturer at University of Applied Health Sciences ,Occupational Therapist (Bsc.OT) Master of Physiotherapy (M.Sc.Physioth.) Senior instructor in sensory Integration and Animal Assistance Intervention expert, NDT, MAES,SI baby therapist, over 20 years of clinical experience in Hospital for Children with Neurodevelopmental and Movement Disorders
Davor Duic
Occupational Therapist (Bsc.OT) Master of Physiotherapy (M.Sc.Physioth.), Sensory Integration expert and Ainmal Assistance Intervention expert at Centre for Rehabilitation Silver, Zagreb (Rehabilitation Centre Silver)
Blazenka Pugar
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM), GDI, Assistance dog Instructor at Centre for Rehabilitation Silver, Zagreb
Blanka Gilja
University Specialist in Early Intervention (Univ.Spec.E.I), Master of Educational Rehabilitation (Mag.Rehab.Educ.), Sensory Integration expert and Animal Assistance Intervention expert at Centre for Rehabilitation Silver, Zagreb
Title: Sensory inputs for clients with disabilities and assistance dog work
Short info about lecture: Team of experts in field of neurorehabilitation and animal assistance therapy, working in Centre for Rehabilitation Silver in cooperation with University of Applied Science in Zagreb will present lecture and workshop about importance of sensory system in dogs (assistance & therapy dogs) and their human clients who has some sensory integration dysfunctions or sensory impairment due to medical conditions, trauma, life situations and development disorders.
Abstract
Sensory input refers to the information that our nervous system, brain and body receive when we touch things, move, play, watch games, listen to music, taste food or do any daily living occupation. Sensory input describes the response of sensory organs when it receives stimuli that is perceived by our eight senses: smell, sight, touch, taste, hearing, and the internal sensory systems (proprioceptive, vestibular, and interoceptive). Sensory integration is happening automatically and in a
unconsciously way that we don't think about and how important and basic it is. Especially with interaction, living and working with assistance dogs in their goal-oriented tasks.
Assistance dogs influence children and persons through sensory inputs in many ways. They play an important role in giving and receiving sensory inputs and patterns with users through a variety of responses to the different sensory modalities. Their presents and behavior provide great sensory experience and possibilities that help and heal many situations and occupations.
Dogs are special creatures who also use their body sensors in relation to their environment and people. Using their sensors in work with clients you can maximizes results.
The aim of this presentation is to show and make users aware of assistance dogs and how sensory inputs influence their life and work with assistance dogs in any task and occupation.
CLOSING KEYNOTE SPEAKER - SPONSORED BY CEVA
pro.em.dr Marie-Jose Enders-Slegers
Title: Animal Wellbeing in Animal Assisted Services: research and practice
Description:
In this lecture prof.em.dr Marie-Jose Enders-Slegers, president IAHAIO, will address animal wellbeing in working circumstances for dogs, such as ‘therapy dogs and assistance dogs. Animal Wellbeing and how to measure will be discussed. Dilemma’s will be presented and illustrated by video material.
Biography:
Prof. em. dr. Marie-Jose Enders-Slegers is a clinical and health psychologist by training. Her special field of interest is the human-animal bond and animal-assisted interventions in health care and education. Her research topics include: the development of the human-animal bond, the meaning and effects of human-animal interactions and animal-assisted interventions for different groups of vulnerable people (e.g. elderly people, elderly people with dementia, traumatized children, mentally handicapped people, children with behavior problems, veterans with PTSD). She also researched the ‘dark side’ of the human-animal relationship: the link between domestic violence and animal abuse.
From 2013 – 2022 she held the position of Professor in Anthrozoology at the Faculty of Psychology, Open University Heerlen, the Netherlands.
Since 2016 she is serving as President of IAHAIO – International Association of Human Animal Interaction Organizations. She is and was involved in many international and national boards such as the Dutch Association of Animal Protection, International Association of Anthrozoology. She published many articles and book chapters.