Therapy Dogs: How mans best friend helps us

This week’s blog post is by Enya, one of our passionate new first year reps. Like many other people, I classify myself as a dog person, but until I worked on Pavillion ward with Dr Moss and her dog Mutley Moss in 2019 I had no idea of the impact they could have on peoples mental health recovery. It is something that has fascinated me ever since, and I wanted to share the impact that Pets as Therapy (PAT) animals can have on people experiencing mental illness.

Mutley Moss joined the Pavillion ward team at Millview in March of 2018. Pavillion ward is a male PICU (Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit) where patients go when they are experiencing an acute phase of a serious mental disorder which cannot be safely managed in a general psychiatric ward.

When Mutley joined the team, the ward was facing a number of challenges that can be seen across psychiatric wards; high levels of seclusions, high levels of rapid tranquillisation and low levels of patient engagement in ward activities. There was also increased staff stress levels. Dr Moss wanted to be able to reduce restrictive practice, and create a better environment for both patients and staff; this is where Mutley came in.

Dr Moss had no other resources available, but had been keen to bring in one of her trained Pets As Therapy (PAT) dogs. Mutley was brought in on an intermittent reinforcement schedule to try and maximise behaviour change, so it was unknown when he might visit the ward. This was alongside the fact that Mutley could only visit if there were no seclusions or incidents on the ward in the previous 24 hours. Whilst working with Dr Moss, I was lucky enough to be able to create and present a poster on the impact Mutley had on the ward; the findings below are from that poster (written in 2019).

Post Mutley, the following were observed;

• 75% decrease in seclusions

• 69% decrease in rapid tranquillisation’s

• Pavillion ward is consistently highest in patient activities in the hospital, despite having half the number of patients than other wards

• Increased interaction between nurses and patients

• Decreased smoking and increased activity levels

• 0 acts of aggression towards Mutley, and Mutley has not been aggressive either

I personally found the figures quite shocking, and the impact that Mutley has had on the ward is clear. Mutley has also led health promotions in the trust such as smile month, encouraging better dental hygiene. This worked well as he acts as a neutral party. Mutley is also loved by staff and is used to provide them with quick support after incidents before formal debriefs are held.

It’s not just Mutley either, the Blue Cross have a booklet called “A link in the chain: tackling mental health, poverty and loneliness through pet ownership”, which highlights other stories of therapy animals (including Mutley). They also offer some interesting figures, such as that out of 76 NHS trusts that participated in a freedom of information request, 60 already provide Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) of some kind. The impact that AAT and PAT animals can have, especially for those experiencing mental illness, is clear. If you want to read anything else about therapy animals, or Mutleys work I have included some links below.

Related Links •https://www.sussexpartnership.nhs.uk/.../how-one-amazing... •https://www.bluecross.org.uk/.../A%20Link%20in%20the... •https://www.nationalelfservice.net/.../dog-therapy-dementia/