This month’s open access article features Dr. Rebecca Johnson, PhD, RN, FAAN, FNAP, Professor at the Schools of Nursing and Veterinary Medicine and Director of the Research Center for Human Animal Interaction (ReCHAI). Her research shows that companion animals provide a unique source of social support and facilitate wellness-promoting behaviors. Most recently, she’s been testing the effects on physical activity levels and PTSD of veterans paired with shelter dogs and those participating in therapeutic horseback riding.

Dr. Johnson, and her research team, published in Military Medical Research (MMR) in January 2018. MMR is a completely open access, peer reviewed journal that publishes findings on basic medical science and clinical research related to military medicine. All articles published are made freely and permanently accessible online and all article-processing fees are paid for by the People’s Military Medical Press. It is also indexed by the Directory of Open Access Journals. For more information on the journal, click here.

Effects of therapeutic horseback riding on post-traumatic stress disorder in military veterans focuses on the benefits of a 6-week long therapeutic horseback riding program for veterans diagnosed with PTSD. This randomized trial, with 29 participants, shows that those who participated in the program had statistically significant decreases in PTSD symptoms than those who were part of the controlled group who did not participate in the therapeutic horseback riding. Even those veterans who expressed initial reluctance to participate were found to enjoy the therapy in the end.