A recent study highlights how Buckeye Paws, a therapy dog program, can uplift moods among health care workers, reducing feelings of emotional exhaustion and enhancing work engagement.
Therapy dogs have always been recognized for their ability to lift the spirits of hospital patients.
But do these lovable dogs also provide support to the healthcare workers who attend to patients?
A study conducted by researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, in collaboration with the College of Medicine and College of Nursing, has verified the positive effects of Buckeye Paws, a therapy dog initiative that many healthcare professionals believe alleviates emotional fatigue and boosts work engagement.
The findings from their pilot study indicated that the self-reported positive mood nearly doubled in healthcare staff who interacted with the well-trained dog-handler teams participating in Buckeye Paws.
The study involved 64 participants, including doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, respiratory and rehabilitation therapists, patient care associates, and unit clerks from two intensive care units and two medical-surgical units.
All handlers in the study were hospital staff members who volunteered their time with seven licensed therapy dogs to offer this animal-assisted intervention three times a week over eight weeks.
The research assessed how acceptable and beneficial animal-assisted activities involving therapy dogs were for healthcare worker stress, burnout, engagement at work, and mood.
“Participants had the freedom to interact with the dogs for as long or as short as they desired. Before meeting the dogs, we asked them to rate their mood on a scale from 1 to 10. Then, we had them do the same after their interaction,” explained Beth Steinberg, PhD, RN, the lead investigator of the study.
The results have been published in the International Journal of Complementary & Alternative Medicine.
Buckeye Paws was initiated in March 2020 for the employees of Wexner Medical Center, just prior to the onset of the pandemic. As the program gained traction, researchers performed a pilot study to evaluate its effectiveness.
“Recruitment for this study was surprisingly straightforward; as soon as we mentioned researching the effects of therapy dog interactions, people were eager to participate,” Steinberg remarked. “Even before COVID-19 severely impacted hospitals, staff were already facing challenges with stress, burnout, and engagement.”
Steinberg, along with Mary Justice, the chief administrative officer at Ohio State’s College of Nursing, co-founded Buckeye Paws. While Steinberg frequently visits hospital floors accompanied by her yellow Labrador Retriever Brienne, Justice brings her English cream golden retriever Shiloh to interact with hospital staff.
Although their visits tend to be short — lasting just a few minutes at various clinical workspaces, team rooms, conference areas, or break rooms — these interactions have a significant impact.
Many participants reported an immediate reduction in perceived stress, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and burnout after their interactions with the dogs.
“When we brought the dogs to the units, we often found staff members in tears while sitting with them, sharing stories about their day,” mentioned Steinberg, a senior researcher at Ohio State’s Center for Integrative Health.
In light of the increasing shortage of physicians and nurses across the country, researchers are optimistic that this program will lead to enhanced job satisfaction and retention among healthcare workers.
“People generally feel a connection to a non-judgmental, loving, furry companion that is simply there to sit with them and listen. Dogs don’t judge appearances or moods; they are just present when someone needs them,” Steinberg explained.
Due to Buckeye Paws’ success, the program expanded in March 2022 to offer therapy dog assistance to students, faculty, and staff at The Ohio State University. Currently, the program includes 29 dog-handler teams, with an additional 11 teams being onboarded and another eight initiating the process.
All dog-handler teams in Buckeye Paws are required to complete both basic and advanced obedience training, receive the Canine Good Citizenship certification from the American Kennel Club, and obtain certification from a national therapy dog organization, according to Aimee Mitchell, the program manager for Buckeye Paws.
This research demonstrating the advantages of therapy dogs for healthcare staff at Ohio State paves the way for similar programs nationwide. The program directors have already used Buckeye Paws as a prototype to establish a similar initiative at a hospital system in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
The authors have no conflicts of interest concerning the publication of this manuscript.
