Equine-assisted therapy for children and young people at risk of developing permanent mental illness

Participants in the intervention are children between the ages of 7 and 18 with mental illness and stress symptoms such as psychosomatic pain, assessed by the treating psychologist to benefit from horse-assisted treatment. The intervention takes place once a week for a total of 12 weeks. The participants come to the farm together with a parent or other relative and are received by the child and adolescent physiotherapist with OHI certification (Organization for Equine-Assisted Interventions) to perform equine-assisted therapy and who is also responsible for the therapy and leads the session. Each session is at least 60 minutes and includes equine-assisted therapeutic activities where preparation of the horse, riding and follow-up work with the horse are included. In the study,

Photovoice is used to enable active participation that gives the children and adolescents the opportunity to express what they consider important to highlight in the research and the questionnaire "The Mood and Feelings Questionnaire: Short Version (MFQ)" specially adapted to children and parents to obtain quantitative data that is analysed with non-parametric randomization test (NPRT). By using NPRT, it is possible to investigate differences during both peaks and troughs in participants' health status between the time before the intervention and during the ongoing intervention. Qualitative data is analysed with the help of Grounded theory (Charmaz, 2014) alternatively qualitative content analysis (Graneheim and Lundman, 2004).

The project has received ethical approval from the ethical review authority in Lund, department 3 (Dnr: 2019–00008) and intends to contribute to knowledge about experiences and effects of equine-assisted therapy for children and adolescents with signs of mental illness in a risk situation for developing long-term mental illness. The project is expected to generate four scientific publications and so far, two qualitative articles have been published in the international scientific journal "Issues in Mental Health Nursing".