Connecting for Veteran Wellness is a 3-hour online free course that aims to provide skills and knowledge for practitioners to support Veterans paired with a Service Dog, diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and experiencing harms from substance use. This online course includes 9 modules, covering: introduction, impacts of PTSD, allyship, PTSD, substance use health concerns, mental health, resiliency, recovery, connection, and peer support. After completing the Connecting for Veteran Wellness course, participants will be able to: 1. Explain how the concept of connection can be viewed as opposite to addiction and can be key to Veterans' recovery journeys. 2. Define key concepts needed to learn about recovery from problematic substance use and the role of peer support in wellness. 3. Outline what problematic substance use is with an understanding of drug groupings and criteria for substance use disorders, the individualized effects of substances on the body and brain, and the role of society, including the harmful effects of stigma and the importance of accounting for diversity amongst your client population. 4. Recognize mental health concerns in Veterans, including PTSD and moral injury. 5. Discuss risk and protective factors for substance use health concerns and how multiple protective factors can build resilience for an individual. 6. Identify what recovery from problematic substance use is, how it happens, and the role of humans and Service Dogs in Veterans' recovery. This course is self-paced and is a pass/fail design. At the conclusion of the course, individuals can receive a certificate of completion. Development of the course was led by the Office of One Health & Wellness at University of Saskatchewan, alongside a team of leading scientific reviewers, Veterans with lived and living experience, project staff and contractors (including Redwood Performance Group), and Service Dog program advisors. You can learn more at www.servicedogproject.ca.

Sponsor:University of Saskatchewan
Speaker(s):Dr. Colleen Anne Dell

Contact: Maryellen Gibson
 Email: maryellen.gibson@usask.ca
 Phone: 306-202-9669
 Web: https://servicedogtoolkit.ca/