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Dec. 24, 2003
Do Dogs Make a Difference?
Do Dogs Make a Difference?
Jeffrey Luttrell, 15, Tempe, Ariz.
Animal Planet "Emergency Vets" Award, Discovery Channel Young Scientists Challenge, 2003
Project background: Jeff is a cancer survivor. He’s in his fifth remission and has been free of cancer for 2 years. During the years when he was seeking treatment, he became attached to a rabbit that lived in the playroom at the hospital where he went. He became interested in the idea of pet therapy in helping alleviate anxiety and stress for children who visited the oncology clinic.
Tactics and results: Jeff began by receiving the approval of his school’s and the Children’s Hospital’s Institutional Review Board (IRB), which must approve all studies done with their patients. Jeff then brought a licensed pet therapy dog and her owner to the oncology center at his local Children’s Hospital. The dog played with 6 of 11 children that visited the clinic the day before their scheduled procedures or treatments.
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| V. Miller |
Jeff questioned all 11 children afterwards about their level of distraction. He found that the ones who had encountered the dog had a marked decrease in their discomfort during treatment.
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