COLUMBUS, Ohio — The best medicine doesn’t always come with a pill. Sometimes, it comes with four paws and fur.
“Nursing is probably one of the hardest professions that you can work in,” says Buckeye Paws co-founder Mary Justice. “Working in a healthcare system is very difficult whether you’re a physician, nurse, environmental services, nutrition services worker, they deal with a lot of stress every day.”
The therapy dogs of Buckeye Paws are the stress relievers. Buckeye Paws was started at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center in March 2020 to help reduce stress and anxiety among hospital staff.
“It was just a way for us to take care of the people who take care of people,” says Justice.
Research has shown that simply petting a dog lowers the stress hormone cortisol. Dogs can also demonstrate sympathy and empathy by nuzzling in closer to bring us comfort.
“You know, we have people that hold on to the dogs and cry and the dogs will just stay there and lean into them,” says Buckeye Paws program manager Aimee Mitchell.
Then came COVID-19. The pandemic would halt the program at a time when it was needed the most. Fortunately, with direction from the Ohio State University’s veterinary hospital, Buckeye Paws was able to get back to the business of providing comfort therapy.
“The staff would come up to the dogs, they would hold them, they would take a time for respite, a lot of times we would see tears,” says Justice. “It’s something where a dog pulls emotion out in a way that a human can’t.”
In just three years, Buckeye Paws has grown from three dogs and three handlers to 34 dogs with handlers of their own. The program has now expanded to provide canine therapy to university faculty, staff, and students.
“Leadership here has been so embracive of this program and understanding that mental health is something that we do need to take into consideration,” says Mitchell.
And the dogs provide that mental health support with each stroke of their fur, hug around their neck, and scratch of their back.
Buckeye Paws is completely voluntary. Staff members who want to participate with their pet are evaluated, professionally trained and certified. They give of their own time and money to keep the program going. The program has become a template for other hospital systems wanting to provide canine therapy for their employees.