Dogs comfort intensive care patients as Spanish hospital introduces furry friends for wellbeing

STORY: Spanish hospital introduces dogs in ICUs to improve patients' emotional well-beingSHOOTING TIME: Nov. 13, 2023DATELINE: Nov. 14, 2023LENGTH: 00:01:20LOCATION: BARCELONA, SpainCATEGORY: HEALTHSHOTLIST:1. various of medical professionals with therapy dogs at the Hospital del Mar2. various of the therapy process with dogs3. SOUNDBITE 1 (Catalan): ISABEL BUIL, Director of the Affinity Foundation4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Catalan): JOAN RAMON MASCLANS, Head of the intensive care service at Hospital del MarSTORYLINE:A project to improve the emotional well-being of patients by introducing therapy dogs into intensive care units (ICU) has been launched at Hospital del Mar in the Spanish city of Barcelona.The joint project between the hospital's intensive care service and the Affinity Foundation, a non-profit that promotes the benefits of pets, is the first of its kind in Spain and uses dogs that were abandoned and retrained as therapy dogs.SOUNDBITE 1 (Catalan): ISABEL BUIL, Director of the Affinity Foundation"For us, it's important to not only take part in this innovative program, but also to publicize it because by spreading the word about programs like this one, we can contribute to breaking the barriers to the presence of dogs in public spaces."The pioneering program consists of some 70 sessions, two per week, of 15 to 20 minutes per patient.SOUNDBITE 2 (Catalan): JOAN RAMON MASCLANS, Head of the intensive care service at Hospital del Mar"Thanks to this collaboration, we can continue with the process of humanizing the intensive care units where we think this program of therapeutic animals can be an important tool in monitoring the sensations of patients admitted to our hospital."The project will also form the basis of a study in which hospital researchers will collect saliva samples from patients before and after the interaction with dogs to measure their level of stress and well-being.Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Barcelona, Spain.(XHTV)