SBS news: [2] Interacting with a therapy dog for couple of minutes may help lower stress in physicians and nurses working in emergency departments, say researchers.
[3] A therapy dog is a dog that is trained to provide affection, comfort and support to people in hospitals, retirement homes, nursing homes, schools, libraries or disaster areas.
[4] “Many healthcare workers and laypersons believe that dog-assisted support can improve emotional well-being in the healthcare setting, but little hard data exist to scientifically evaluate this belief, especially in emergency care,” said lead author Jeffrey A Kline from the Indiana University in the US.

In the 122-participant study, published in the journal Academic Emergency Medicine, emergency providers randomised to a five-minute interaction with a therapy dog and handler.

The research found that emergency providers had a significant reduction in self-reported anxiety using a visual analogue scale compared with patients randomised to colouring mandalas for five minutes with coloured pencils.