One Health

Since March is a month that recognizes both Developmental Disabilities and Social Work, I wanted to share a post about emotional support animals and people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities!

For some context, I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Philadelphia, PA and I currently co-direct the Jefferson FAB Center for Primary Care. We provide primary care to adolescents and adults with complex, childhood-onset conditions. The majority of patients we serve have IDD. 

Let's start with some definitions to help distinguish between an emotional support animal and a service animal:

Emotional Support Animal - According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), an emotional support animal is "any animal that provides emotional support alleviating one or more symptoms or effects of a person’s disability." Emotional support animals provide companionship, relieve loneliness, and sometimes help with depression, anxiety, and certain phobias, but do not have special training to perform tasks that assist people with disabilities. Emotional support animals are not limited to dogs. (Service Animal or Emotional Support Animal: What's the Difference?)

Service Animal - Under Title II and Title III of the ADA, a service animal means any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability.

We will be focusing on emotional support animals in this post. Those of us who have pets can speak to the joy and sense of purpose that our pets give us. I often hear from patients and families that they feel lonely or isolated due to their or their loved one's disability and the companionship from a pet can help to alleviate that loneliness. Companion animals can help increase exercise by getting us out for walks, increase daily living skills and a sense of independence through opportunities for caregiving - feeding, providing fresh water, cleaning up after our pets, etc. One thing I hear from our patients and their families the most though, is how emotional support animals support during transitions and help manage anxiety. Visiting a new place can be scary, and the consistency of the animal being in the same place with the person can help ease that anxiety. 

In 2020, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development issued updated guidance on emotional support animals and housing:

(Source: U.S. Department of Housing Issues New Rules for Emotional Support Animals)

Who can prescribe an emotional support animal?

Under Federal law only a medical doctor or a licensed mental health provider can prescribe an emotional support animal. The provider will need to write a letter confirming the following:

(Source: https://usserviceanimals.org/)

I hope this information is helpful and I look forward to your comments and questions!