“I have my partner back”: Partners’ perspectives of PTSD assistance dogs for military and emergency service personnel

Introduction: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a prevalent mental health condition among military and emergency service personnel (service personnel), and intimate partners can play a vital supporting role. Research highlights the importance of developing adjunct PTSD interventions to complement evidence-based treatments. One such adjunct intervention is assistance dogs. No prior studies have focused solely on the experience of partners of service personnel with assistance dogs. This study explored partners’ perspectives on the impact of a PTSD assistance dog for themselves and the family unit. Methods: Using a qualitative design, purposive third-party recruitment was undertaken of adult partners of service personnel partnering with assistance dogs in Australia. Ten partners (age range: 39-70 y, mean age 60 y, 90% women) consented to participate in semi-structured interviews that were then transcribed verbatim and thematically analyzed. Results: Six themes were identified: 1) increasing participation in daily activities, 2) offering ongoing symptom management and skill development, 3) providing physical and emotional support, 4) offering benefits to partners and the broader family unit, including improvements in their relationship and a source of humour, joy, and happiness, 5) being well accepted by their social network, and 6) highlighting the need for greater community awareness and understanding of PTSD assistance dogs. Discussion: This study highlights both benefits and challenges experienced by service personnel and their partners living with a PTSD assistance dog to aid participation in daily activities and quality of life. These findings offer important considerations for assistance animal organizations and funding bodies investing in animal interventions.