SRU faculty, students present animal-assisted intervention research

Jan. 24, 2019

Yvonne Eaton-Stull, a Slippery Rock University assistant professor of public health and social work, presented alongside two separate faculty-student research groups at the Pennsylvania Forensic Rights and Treatment Conference in Grantville.

Eaton-Stull and two SRU students - Christina DeAngelis, a senior dual major in psychology and social work from Pittsburgh; and Alisha Zambroski, a senior social work major from Erie - shared their research from an animal-assisted intervention study that they conducted at the State Correctional Institute in Cambridge Springs to treat incarcerated women who have a history of self-harm.

Eaton-Stull and Cassandra Spirnock, a senior social work major from Valencia, also presented results from their research study at SCI-Mercer, where they provided animal-assisted intervention to incarcerated men with anxiety.

Cynthia Wright, a licensed psychology manager at SCI-Mercer, was a co-presenter on both studies at the conference, which was attended by a variety of collaborators from mental health, criminal justice and other related professions.