Focus
- Children
- Health services and health promotion
- Services for people with disabilities
- Social inclusion
Interest
- European learning networks and exchanges
- Research
- Policy, advocacy and campaigns
- Community outreach and engagement
EU Project Experience
No experience yet.
EU Funding Goals
Dogs for the Disabled is the only charity in Ireland providing Assistance Dogs for people with physical disabilities, and our activities do not overlap with the work of similar Irish charities, e.g. dogs for the blind or autism. Our unique goals are:
Short Term
Connect with European organizations supporting people with physical disabilities through canine-assisted intervention, by sharing best-practices and learning from each other, in particular in the following 3 areas:
- Stability Dogs: they act as a walking aid for people with physical disabilities.
- Task Dogs: they perform tasks to support wheelchair users in their daily lives.
- Canine Assisted Intervention (CAI) Facility dogs: they work in Public Healthcare facilities such as hospitals, rehabilitation, trauma centres, etc. alongside qualified Health Professionals (physiotherapist, psychologist, etc.).
Within the theme of Health, Disability and ESF+, learn how to successfully select, apply, and manage EU funding opportunities.
Medium Term
- Raise awareness of our work and its impacts at EU level, by sharing our and our partners’ successful case studies, with the view to encourage policymakers to explore this type of program further, and expand the allocation of public funding and grants for Assistance Dogs for physically disabled EU citizens.
- Foster a more inclusive EU society by improving attitudes towards people with physical disabilities, to ensure better access to spaces and services and to enhance inclusion.
Long Term
With our EU partners, expand our existing successful collaboration with Irish health professionals and therapists to EU level.
With our EU partners, expand our existing contribution to Health research at EU level, similar to the research on “Benefits of canine-assisted gait training” we are currently carrying out with Trinity College Dublin and the Gait Laboratory at the Central Remedial Clinic.
Strengths
Organisational Capacity
We have 10 staff members and 5 multi-disciplinary board members, and collectively we have over 50 years of experience in Charity Management and Assistance Dog Training for People with Physical Disabilities. In addition, we have a network of over 200 faithful volunteers in Ireland.
Unique Skills
We have unique skills in identifying the specific needs of a person with physical disabilities, matching them with their perfect canine partner, designing a suitable training plan, and training the partnership to achieve its maximum potential.
Valuable Expertise
We can offer significant expertise in the following areas:
- Charity management and compliance.
- Needs assessment for people with physical disabilities.
- Specialized Assistance Dog breeding and training.
- Canine-assisted physical therapy.
- Health research projects in conjunction with health professional.
