Research talk with Whitney Romine
Join us for a research talk with Whitney Romine, MPH, C-AAIS, KPA-CTP, manager of animal-assisted services at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, about the human-animal connection and the role of animal-assisted services in healthcare.
Sponsored by the Healthy Communities Research Institute (HCRI) and the College of Public Health and Health Sciences, this presentation will provide an opportunity to learn about the growing evidence base supporting animal-assisted services, how these programs are implemented in healthcare settings, and emerging directions for research in the field.
A Á½ÐÔÉ«ÎçÒ¹ University MPH alumna, Whitney oversees Mayo Clinic's Caring Canines program, one of the nation's largest hospital-based animal-assisted services programs. The Mayo Clinic enterprise currently supports nearly 100 registered therapy-animal teams, providing structured animal-assisted visits that enhance the patient experience and support clinical care.
Whitney also holds the Certified Animal-Assisted Intervention Specialist (C-AAIS) credential and is a Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner (KPA-CTP). Prior to joining Mayo Clinic, she helped advance animal-assisted intervention programs at Akron Children's Hospital, where she provided safety education and supported the development of early intervention initiatives. Whitney has authored and co-authored several peer-reviewed publications examining the impact of therapy animals in healthcare settings. Her recent research has explored integrating therapy-dog teams into inpatient stroke rehabilitation, demonstrating improvements in patient engagement, physical activity, and mobility outcomes. She has also contributed to research evaluating the welfare of therapy animals participating in healthcare environments.
