Facility Dogs in Supportive Care at Pediatric hospitals

According to a recent study that polled the medical staff at a sizable, public pediatric hospital about their experiences dealing with these animals, full-time hospital facility dogs can offer crucial support during terminal illness and aid in gaining patients’ compliance. Natsuko Murata-Kobayashi and colleagues from Shine On! Kids in Japan will publish their work in PLOS ONE.

Hospital facility dogs (HFDs) are professionally trained canines that are different from volunteer therapy dogs in terms of their training and ability to perform tasks; they are often looked after by medical experts and go to work each day. In conjunction with the nonprofit Shine On! Kids, the first HFD team in Japan began operations at Shizuoka Children’s Hospital in 2010.

All 626 full-time medical staff members at this pediatric hospital in Japan and received a 20-question survey from researchers in 2019 asking about their experiences with HFDs. 431 members of the staff responded, and 270 of them had actually seen HFD in action.

With 73% of respondents stating that HFDs were “very often” or “always” advantageous in delivering palliative care during the terminal phase, it may be concluded that the most significant effects of HFDs were shown in terminal care and patient cooperation. The same percentage said HFDs “very often” or “always” assisted them in getting a patient’s compliance.

Additionally, the majority of responders claimed that HFDs made their workload better and assisted kids who had trouble with schedule adjustments. Additionally, they saw that after receiving HFD therapies, kids became more expressive and communicative.

The authors come to the conclusion that providing patients in children’s hospitals with a full-time model that includes HFDs and nurse handlers has a number of advantages. They do point out that additional research is required to better understand and maximize the effectiveness of particular HFD therapies.

The authors add, “[We] noted the significance of the finding that ‘terminal palliative care’ provided by facility dogs working in Japanese children’s hospitals is highly valued by the medical staff. Through accumulating evidence from research, we aim to contribute to the broader adoption of facility dogs in children’s hospitals both domestically and internationally.”

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