Pups in scrubs: These adorable dogs should be hired to improve children’s hospitals, says new study

Extra treats are in store for these employees of the month. A new study shows that hospital facility dogs can ease pressure on children’s hospital staff while improving the lives of patients and their families.

Hospital facility dogs are not your average pooches. These are trained animals, working full-time in hospital settings with a number of duties. At the Shizuoka Children’s Hospital in Japan, where this study was conducted, the dogs’ duties include visiting patients’ bedsides, walking with children to surgery, and cuddling distressed children to help them fall asleep.

"The dog's ability to be a 'friend' to the children is a great strength," Dr Natsuko Murata-Kobayashi of the non-profit children's care organisation Shine On! Kids, Japan told BBC Science Focus.

"It is easy to say that the loving and empathetic nature of a dog makes them good at this work which is absolutely true, but there is a great deal of training and experience behind the scenes that ultimately determines the power and success of their work."

Led by Murata-Kobayashi alongside scientists at Kansai University, Japan, the study surveyed 431 full-time medical staff at Shizuoka.

It found that 73 per cent of staff reported the dogs as helpful in improving patient co-operation during procedures and examinations. Over half of the respondents had worked directly with the service dogs.

The study results, published in the journal PLOS ONE, also show that the same proportion of staff (73 per cent) found that the dogs improved palliative care (specialised medical care for people with serious illnesses) by comforting children with terminal illnesses.

The majority of the respondents also lauded the dogs for improving staff workloads. The dogs help to bridge the gap between the medical staff and patients; the study observes that children were more expressive and communicative after their canine cuddles.

The authors of the paper conclude that this model of dog service use is effective in supporting patients in children’s hospitals, though further research is needed to understand and improve specific duties the dogs can deliver.

Hospital facility dogs are professionally trained between one and a half and two years, and are cared for by medical staff. They have been employed in Japan since 2010.

"Not just any dog is suited to this kind of deeply meaningful work," Murata-Kobayashi explained. The breeds employed at the Shizuoka Children’s Hospital are golden retrievers, Labrador retrievers, or a mixture of the two. According to Murata-Kobayashi, these breeds "love to please their handlers and patients and everyone love the work they do.

"Furthermore, their handlers are also carefully selected, trained and matched with each dog to ensure an optimal working team."

The authors state that, “through accumulating evidence from research, we aim to contribute to the broader adoption of facility dogs in children’s hospitals both domestically and internationally.”