UAA students working to spread awareness on service animals for spring project
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - University of Alaska Anchorage nursing students in a population health class will spend a portion of their semester learning about service dogs and their relationships to the local population.
The goal of the lesson, educators say, is to gain a better understanding of what Alaskans know about service animals, what still needs to be taught and how to provide needed education to the general public. Professor Angelia Trujillo and her nursing school colleague Jeff Matthews have both observed a concerning pattern among some Alaskans: Upon encountering a service animal, some people don’t know the appropriate way to respond.
“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done,” Trujillo said. “There are definitely people, you know, who just don’t understand.”
Matthews and Lox, his yellow lab service animal, have been inseparable for almost two years.
In addition to training to become a service animal, Lox also underwent specialized training on how to serve Matthews, a military veteran who used to have trouble walking in straight lines. Now, Matthews wants the community to learn about service dog etiquette, beyond just knowing not to pet his service animal.
Both Matthews and Trujillo want to educate the public on the proper way to act around service animals.
“It’s more than just petting — it’s distraction,” Matthews said. “It’s like folks will walk by and they’ll stick out their fist and let him sniff at them. Or they’ll introduce themselves like you would to a dog. But when he’s distracted, that puts me and him in medical jeopardy. If I were to have an event while he’s distracted, I could fall and get hurt.”
Later this spring semester, Trijillo’s students will be conducting a community assessment project on service animals, with hopes of educating community members. Students will then finish the semester by creating a short public service announcement between 60-90 seconds.
“It will show them that there’s more to nursing than just at the bedside; nursing is an overarching profession,” Matthews said.
Learn more about Matthews and Lox in the story below.
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