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Being a hospital patient can make you feel alone. Your physical and mental health may suffer greatly throughout the recovery process. That is why many healthcare facilities take therapy dogs to hospitals. These furry heroes bring friendship and comfort to hospital staff and patients. Certified therapy dogs are accompanied by their handlers to hospitals and can do a lot. Wondering about the impact therapy dogs have on the well-being of patients? Keep reading — we will shed some light on their presence can make a difference in healing.
Surprising Benefits of Therapy Dogs
Hospital stays can be isolating, stressful, and often frightening experiences. Patients are often separated from their families, confined to sterile environments, and bombarded with medical procedures. In such a challenging setting, therapy dogs offer a unique and powerful form of comfort and support. These specially trained canines, along with their handlers, bring a touch of normalcy and joy to hospital patients, offering a range of benefits that extend beyond simple companionship:
- Stress and anxiety reduction — Therapy dogs help lower stress and anxiety levels. They offer comfort and calmness to patients during their hospital stay.
- Improved mood — Interaction with therapy dogs boosts patients’ spirits, reduces depression, and promotes emotional healing.
- Enhanced socialization — Patients often engage more with others after interacting with therapy dogs. So, therapy dogs foster communication and connection.
- Lower blood pressure — Studies show that therapy dog visits can decrease blood pressure and improve cardiovascular health.
- Pain management — Playing or interacting with therapy dogs has been shown to reduce pain and fatigue in patients.
- Encouragement to be active — Therapy dogs can motivate patients to participate in physical activities, aiding recovery.
Therapy dogs are more than just friendly visitors; they are valuable members of the healthcare team. Their ability to reduce stress, combat loneliness, aid in pain management, and promote physical activity makes them a powerful and compassionate resource for hospital patients. Interestingly, some breeds are a better fit for a role of a therapy dog, e.g., Labradors, Golden Retrievers, Poodles, Boxers, Border Collies, etc. So we recommend that you buy a dog DNA kit to make an ancestry test before making your pet apply for a position as a therapy dog.
How Does That Work?
The purposes of dog therapy may differ. So impacts of “employing therapy dogs” vary greatly. Depending on the ailment and the sort of assistance necessary, the manner and goal of “dog treatment” may differ. Here are some of the main variations:
- Providing comfort and reducing pain intensity.
- Acquiring psychological and behavioral skills.
- Increasing motivation for activities like exercise and social contact.
Furthermore, the dog's trainer, usually the owner, takes the pet to each session as part of the rehabilitation process. The owner should collaborate with the patient to aid them in achieving their therapeutic goals while under the supervision of a doctor. Furthermore, the dog and the owner must meet other standards with these bodies and organizations before being certified for therapeutic use.
Who Can Benefit from Therapeutic Dogs?
As we have already mentioned, a therapy dog may significantly reduce pain, tension, melancholy, and exhaustion in those suffering from a range of conditions. Here are the main categories of patients who can benefit from therapeutic dogs
- Those undergoing cancer treatments
- Dementia patients
- Anxious patients
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) impacts veterans
- People with heart disease
People who have been diagnosed with an illness do not benefit alone. A therapy dog is also used in non-medical settings to help people cope with stress and anxiety, such as schools and outreach programs.
Dogs Are Becoming Important Members of Hospital Settings
You can see our furry friends in hospitals more and more often. And there are many good reasons for that. Therapy dogs give an emotional link to hospital patients, which might help them deal with their present medical condition. If a patient is frightened, terrified, or in pain, being near an animal might help them combat their concerns. Therapy dogs may provide physical comfort by enabling patients to touch them, which has been shown to lower blood pressure and anxiety. It's no surprise that therapy dogs are becoming more popular in hospital settings, given all of the advantages they deliver!