Dr. Clare Jensen – Dr. Maggie O’Haire | Can Dogs Improve the Mental Wellbeing of Pediatric Healthcare Professionals?

Dr. Jensen and colleagues carried out a study involving 130 pediatric healthcare professionals working in children’s hospitals across the USA. Half of the participants worked with facility dogs and the other half did not. Most of the participants were female, with job roles ranging from nurses, social workers, physicians, and child-life specialists.

The facility dogs in the study were mostly golden retrievers, Labrador retrievers, and goldendoodles who were specifically bred and trained for their jobs by the non-profit organization Canine Assistants. To measure the impact of partnering with a facility dog, participants completed a survey to report on their burnout, job perceptions and mental health.

The findings suggest that working with a facility dog had many benefits for pediatric healthcare professionals. These included less job-related burnout and greater feelings of accomplishment in the workplace.

Facility dogs also appeared to improve job perceptions. Professionals working with a facility dog reported feeling more positive about their job, while experiencing greater work-related enthusiasm and lower levels of work-related depression.

The researchers also found that facility dogs may help with job retention. According to the survey results, professionals working with facility dogs were more likely to want to stay in their current roles than those working without facility dogs.

Interestingly, facility dogs did not seem to impact the level of emotional exhaustion in healthcare workers, and were not associated with reduced anxiety. The researchers explain that this might be related to some challenges of working with facility dogs. These dogs are often in high demand, and professionals must juggle their workload as well as the dog’s wellbeing.

With this study, Dr. Jensen and her colleagues have provided evidence suggesting further benefits of facility dogs in pediatric healthcare settings. In addition to the positive impacts on patient health, the team’s work shows that working with facility dogs may also improve the mental wellbeing of healthcare professionals. They hope that the outcomes of this study will provide hospitals with a realistic view of what can be expected from incorporating facility dogs, while also offering encouragement to explore the implementation of such programs.