Registers accredited by the Professional Standards Authority
Athena Herd Foundation
Visit website: https://athenaherd.org/
The Accredited Practitioner Register is a professional body working with and representing those undertaking Equine Facilitated Interactions or Equine Assisted Services.
Athena Herd Foundation is a Community Interest Company that provides Equine Facilitated Interactions to local vulnerable individuals and communities in support of personal learning, wellbeing and therapeutic benefit. It is also a leading international provider of training for Equine Facilitated or Assisted Practitioners of the same.
The Register’s purpose is to ensure professional ethics and standards that prioritise the health and wellbeing of clients and public, and protects them from harm or injury. It acts to promote and maintain client confidence and public credibility in the benefits of Equine Facilitated Interactions.
The Register provides a coordinating body for wellbeing and healthcare practitioners who are working with horses to complement or enhance their professional practices.
Athena was accredited with the following conditions (or you can read the full accreditation report here). We have now completed our review of Conditions 3-5, which were due to be completed by June 2024. You can read our report of the assessment here. We will assess the remaining Conditions in due course.
| Conditions | Deadline |
|---|
| Standard Two | 1. Develop and publish policies and procedures to make clearer how site visits are used to determine eligibility for the Register. This should include greater clarity on the circumstances in which they are required, what they involve, and how the site visit itself will be assessed.
| Next assessment |
| Standard Three | 2. Develop the detail of the Framework for Professional Standards and other codes of professional and ethical behaviours, so that they provide greater clarity about how they expect standards to be met in the context of equine therapy work. There should be a mechanism for making sure revised versions of the codes are communicated to registrants so that new requirements introduced post registration remain binding.
| Next assessment |
| Standard Five | 3. The PCRC should be expanded to include members who are not involved in other aspects of Athena’s work, such as training. It should ensure that the investigation and adjudication of complaints are not carried out by the same individuals.
4. Decisions made by the PCRC should not be subject to ratification by the RAB.
5. Guidance on complaints should clarify how it will be decided which cases are appropriate for consensual disposal, how decisions would be made about these, and whether any findings (other than sanctions) would be published. | Three months
Three months
Three months |
| Standard Six | 6. Establish clearer governance for oversight of education and training, such as through an Education Committee.
7. Publish key information about the PCRC, RAB and any other new governance arrangements. This should include the Register of Conflicts of Interest, who fulfils key positions such as the Chair, and papers and minutes to demonstrate how the public interest is fulfilled. It should be clear how the governance arrangements work together as a whole. Athena could consider publishing diagrams of its governance structures to aid transparency.
| Next assessment
Next assessment |
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