Phoenix Children’s therapy dog supports patients and their families

Phoenix Children’s offers an Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) Program with a therapy dog to patients and their families for therapeutic purposes.

Scientific research has shown that a patient’s interaction with an animal can provide positive physical and emotional benefits. The volunteer therapy animal team visits patients, families, and staff at events and at the bedside, improving their mood and helping them through tough days.

The full-time employed facility dog teams work closely with staff to help patients achieve their treatment goals, from physical therapy sessions to preparing for upcoming surgeries or procedures. The facility dogs live and work with their handler and are specially trained to work full-time in the hospital setting.

Chrissy Richardson, Animal-Assisted Therapy Coordinator at Phoenix Children’s, Breanna Tabor, Child Life Specialist at Phoenix Children’s, and Sparky, a Therapy Dog at Phoenix Children’s, all joined “Arizona Horizon” to talk more about their pawsome program.

“A lot of people think it’s just a feel good program, which of course everybody loves dogs,” Richardson said, “…but it also has a lot of science behind it.”

Richardson went on to explain how studies show that when kids react to animals their rehabilitation outcomes are better, and they feel calmer. The hormones that make them feel stressed go down and the hormones that make them feel good go up.

“…so you can imagine being in a hospital where you’re stressed out, it helps to have a dog come and visit you sometimes,” Richardson explained.

Richardson emphasized how even the presence of a dog or an animal can make an individual feel calmer and more comfortable.

Breanna Tabor discussed the assessment process when determining if a patient would benefit from the presence of sparky or an alternative dog.

“…some of that is just does the patient actually like dogs,” Tabor explained, “…sometimes the caregiver is requesting for the dogs to come in. Our staff is really good at asking those questions as well.”