What is one of the biggest challenges to scaling an AAI program or running a therapy animal program? Keeping up with demand.
If you’ve started bringing a therapy or facility animal into your workplace, you’ve probably experienced it: clients, students, or colleagues asking for more animal-assisted support. It shows the great power of this work. But just like all helpful interventions, scaling up must be done thoughtfully.
Here, we’ll explore strategies to expand your animal-assisted intervention (AAI) program in a way that’s ethical, sustainable, and follows the best practices in the field.
What Does It Mean to Scale Your Program?
When you’ve seen the difference a therapy animal can make, it’s only natural to want to do more. But scaling isn’t just about adding more teams. It’s about deepening your impact, modeling excellence, and building systems that support quality over time.
Scaling, One Step at a Time:
Know Your “Why”
Sure, therapy animals make people feel better—but defining your specific mission will take your program to the next level. Write a clear, concise mission statement that shows your purpose. This will guide your decisions as you grow and gather support from your community. Consider including a few key research findings to strengthen your case.
Get Certified
Any professional leading an AAI program should have the Animal-Assisted Intervention Specialist (AAIS) Certification and pass a therapy animal team evaluation. These steps show that you’re committed to best practices and prepare you with the right knowledge and skills to keep going.
Measure Your Impact
It’s never too early to start collecting data. What’s one meaningful change you’ve seen in your setting? Reduced anxiety, improved reading scores, increased engagement? Look for simple ways to quantify that outcome. Use validated surveys, track measurable skills, or draw inspiration from existing studies to start showing your impact today.
Build Your Plan
Growth requires strong foundations. Develop your program manual with essential documents like informed consent forms, parent permission slips, incident reports, and behavior tracking tools. A well-organized infrastructure makes your program professional and sets it up to grow. It also helps onboard future team members smoothly.
Need help creating this manual? AAAIP has a course with downloadable templates to get you started.
Consider Volunteer Partnerships
Professional therapy animal teams take time to develop. In the meantime, work with local volunteer teams from reputable organizations like Pet Partners. Partnering with teams can expand your reach, and you’ll know they’ve met high standards of handler education, evaluation, and insurance.
Educate at Every Stage
Successful programs don’t just add more teams. They build understanding and buy-in across the organization. Offer basic education about AAI to your colleagues and give a clear orientation to every new team. Set clear requirements: for instance, recruit volunteers only from organizations that align with the Standards of Practice. Also, require that professionals get their AAIS Certification and pass a team evaluation. When it comes to education, consistency matters.
Commit to Ongoing Growth
There’s no finish line when it comes to scaling an AAI program. They are dynamic and should evolve to meet the needs of both people and animals. Commit to regularly evaluating your program, staying connected to the professional AAI community, and taking continuing education to stay up-to-date.
The world needs more therapy animal programs, but they need to be built the right way.
At AAAIP, we’re here to support you at every step. With some time and care, you can grow your program to be safe, ethical, and impactful for both the humans and animals involved.