Photos: ‘Reading’ dog helps kids heal in Dubai hospital

Dubai - A therapy animal is a great exemplar of nonpharmacological interventions that can help ICU patients become active.

Mickey, a two-year-old Beagle, scripted history on Sunday by becoming the first dog to ‘read to’ outpatient therapy patients at the Al Jalila Children’s Speciality Hospital.

Mickey, accompanied by his trainer Michele Dunn, delighted at least 12 children - aged two and above - by engaging them in a fun interaction and reading activity. After Dunn read out from two books, they interacted with Mickey by petting and playing with him. All participating kids were undergoing some form of behavioural or occupational therapy at the hospital.

The one-of-a-kind animal-assisted therapy was organised by Reading Dogs, a programme of UAE-based Animal Agency. “Reading Dogs provides canine reading companions to help children relax into reading and confidence building,” said Karalynn Thomson, founder of the Animal Agency and Reading Dogs.

3-month pilot programme

“The programme will be piloted over three months and will see children being treated at Al Jalila benefit from human-animal interaction therapy sessions with specially trained dogs,” pointed out Dr Mohamed Al Awadhi, chief operating officer at Al Jalila Children’s Specialty Hospital.

Jukha Al Marzooqi, an expert in clinical services at Al Jalila, told Khaleej Times: “We realised this activity matches with the theme of our hospital. Today, there are very few houses in the UAE that do not have a pet.” The hospital also recently invited a Dubai Safari team to organise similar interactions with animals’ activities for kids.

“The hall we organised the event in is fitted with cameras. All our inpatients were able to see it from their rooms,” said Marzooqi.

According to the Johns Hopkins University rehabilitation and ICU experts, a therapy animal is a great exemplar of nonpharmacological interventions that can help ICU patients become active and engaged in their recovery as early as possible.

The programme launched by Al Jalila builds on growing evidence that animal therapy has been proven to decrease stress and depression by increasing the levels of feel-good chemicals, specifically serotonin, oxytocin, and dopamine - in the brain.

Emotional benefits