{"id":1895,"date":"2019-04-01T19:38:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-01T23:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/live-coto.pantheonsite.io\/?post_type=resource&#038;p=1895"},"modified":"2025-01-16T18:53:27","modified_gmt":"2025-01-16T23:53:27","slug":"providing-documentation-for-service-animals","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/resources\/providing-documentation-for-service-animals\/","title":{"rendered":"Providing Documentation for Service Animals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em><strong>Q:&nbsp;<\/strong>As an OT, can I provide documentation to confirm that a person requires a service animal for reasons relating to their disability?&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A:<\/strong>&nbsp;Yes, OTs are one of the regulated health professionals who can provide documentation to confirm that a person requires a service animal for reasons relating to their disability, as outlined in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ontario.ca\/laws\/regulation\/110191#BK151\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Section 80.47 of the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation under the AODA<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When an OT is providing documentation regarding a service animal, they should be aware of what the documentation should include to substantiate the need for the service animal. For example, if the OT is completing documentation for a service animal who may be travelling with a client, they should consult the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.otc-cta.gc.ca\/eng\/service-animals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Canadian Transportation Agency<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Q:&nbsp;<\/strong>What steps should an OT follow when providing documentation for a person requiring a service animal for reasons relating to their disability?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A:<\/strong>&nbsp;An OT should follow these steps when providing documentation:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Determine their own competency to provide the documentation:&nbsp;<\/strong><br>OTs need to consider their scope of practice and their own competency when determining if it is appropriate to provide documentation regarding the need for a service animal.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Conduct an assessment:<\/strong><br>OTs should ensure an appropriate assessment has taken place in accordance with the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/resources\/standard-for-assessment-and-intervention-2023\/\" data-type=\"resource\" data-id=\"1205\">Standards for Occupational Therapy Assessments<\/a>\u00a0and the need for a service animal has been documented.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Provide documentation of the need:&nbsp;<\/strong><br>OTs can write a letter outlining the need for the service animal being mindful to only include personal health information necessary for the purpose of the letter.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Q:&nbsp;As an OT, can I provide documentation to confirm that a person requires a service animal for reasons relating to their disability?&nbsp; A:&nbsp;Yes, OTs are one of the regulated health professionals who can provide documentation to confirm that a person requires a service animal for reasons relating to their disability, as outlined in&nbsp;Section 80.47 of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":""},"resource-audience":[19,16,17],"resource-topic":[32,35],"resource-type":[12],"class_list":["post-1895","resource","type-resource","status-publish","hentry","resource-audience-employers","resource-audience-public","resource-audience-registrants","resource-topic-guidance-for-patients-clients","resource-topic-working-as-an-ot","resource-type-q-and-a"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource\/1895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/resource"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource\/1895\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4532,"href":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource\/1895\/revisions\/4532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"resource-audience","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource-audience?post=1895"},{"taxonomy":"resource-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource-topic?post=1895"},{"taxonomy":"resource-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource-type?post=1895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}