A hospital in Spain has started using dogs to boost the morale of patients and improve their psychological treatment. Under a special program, intensive care unit (ICU) patients are introduced to trained dogs for 15 to 20 minutes twice a week.
Joel Buono, 34, lay on his bed in the ICU, wiping tears of joy from his face as he greeted the special guest. It was a four-legged guest, a dog brought to meet Buono.
‘Therapy Dogs’ Vida and Lou got a lot of love from Buono. He remembered his past. Speaking to the British news agency, Buono said that it is a great thing to be loved by someone. No matter what condition you are in, they love you and show it.
Barcelona’s Del Mar Hospital has teamed up with the Affinity Foundation to launch a program using trained dogs to boost the morale of patients admitted to the ICU. This program has been very successful. ICU patients enjoy spending time with these trained dogs (called therapy dogs). This in turn instills in them a strong commitment to survival.