A Pilot Replication Study of Implementing an Equine-Assisted Services Program Within a VA Residential Substance Use Disorder Treatment Program.

Introduction:

• Veterans often suffer from substance use disorders and other mental health issues, like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
• While there are effective treatments for these conditions, many veterans drop out or continue to have symptoms even after treatment.
• The researchers previously studied an intervention that combined horse-based learning and therapy (equine-assisted learning and psychotherapy) for veterans in a substance abuse treatment program. This study aims to replicate those findings and also see if attending more sessions offers added benefits.

Materials and Methods:

• Participants: 94 veterans took part in the study.
• Intervention: The veterans participated in 3-4 hour sessions of the horse-based therapy, attending anywhere from one to six sessions.
• Assessment: Before and after each session, the veterans were evaluated for changes in their emotions (affect), anxiety levels, and substance cravings using specific questionnaires.
• Analysis: Various statistical tests and models were used to compare the before-and-after results for the first four sessions. The researchers also tried to determine if attending more sessions provided additional benefits.

Results:

• The horse-based therapy was safe and feasible for the veterans, confirming the findings of the previous study.
• After the therapy sessions, there were significant improvements in the veterans’ emotions, anxiety levels, and cravings, especially after the first two or three sessions. These improvements had medium-to-large effects, meaning they were meaningful in size.
• However, attending more sessions didn’t seem to provide additional benefits. The statistical models showed no significant advantages of attending more sessions.

Conclusions:

• This study, together with the previous one, indicates that horse-based therapy is safe and can benefit veterans in a residential substance abuse treatment program.
• Because of these promising results, a more rigorous randomized controlled trial should be conducted to establish the intervention’s effectiveness.
• Interestingly, attending more than two sessions didn’t seem to offer more benefits. This suggests that future studies should investigate the ideal number of sessions for this type of therapy for veterans.

In essence, horse-based therapy appears promising for veterans with substance use and mental health issues, but more research is needed to determine the best way to apply this intervention.