On any given day at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, specially selected individual patients from ages one to 18 make their way to a quiet second-floor wing to spend time with their precious companions, their own pets. At the Purina Family Pet Center—one of just four facilities in the world to permit in-hospital own pet visits—patients sit on chairs or floor mats with their four-legged guests. For patients in a wheelchair or a bed, pets climb up ramps to sit or lie perched atop adjustable and non-slip tables so that they can get as close as possible to their recumbent owners. [...]
The benefits of pet therapy are well-documented. The presence and tactile nature of being with pets lowers blood pressure, heart rate and anxiety in owners, and it can also elevate levels of “feel-good” hormones such as oxytocin. But recent studies suggest that the benefits could be even more profound. [...]
She points to one Tufts study (subscription required) in which two groups of elementary school-aged children were asked to read aloud to separate groups of dogs or humans at their local library. Those that read to dogs showed a greater improvement in reading skills and in attitudes toward reading. Pets have also been shown to reduce anxiety among nursing home residents and the children coping with a parent’s military deployment.
Experts at Purina also recognize that human interaction can have a positive effect on pets. The company recently examined the impact (subscription required) of a single, 15-minute petting session on 55 dogs at a local shelter. Researchers detected positive changes in the dogs after just one session, with lower heart rates, higher heart rate variability (associated with positive emotions) and an improvement in behavior among those canines involved in the study.
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