When Jaume Fatjó was 9 years old, a dog came into his life. Later many more would arrive and he loved them all dearly, but that first dog marked him forever. Baloo was a German Shepherd who could seem fierce to strangers, but with his own people he turned into a stuffed animal. He accompanied him from the age of 9 to 22, during his childhood and early youth, until he practically finished his medical degree.
Today, Dr. Fatjó is 54 years old and directs the Affinity Animals and Health Foundation chair at the Faculty of Medicine of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). This academic area has teamed up with the intensive medicine service of the Hospital del Mar to improve the stay of its ICU patients with two very special dogs: Vida, a three-year-old female Pyrenean shepherd, and Lu, a greyhound. of seven.
The advantages of animal-assisted therapies are unquestionable. Dolphins and horses, for example, can be very useful in the treatment of autism spectrum disorder. But without a doubt dogs are the kings in this field. The pediatric ICU at the 12 de Octubre hospital was a pioneer when it came to proving its advantages, like other health centers in Barcelona, especially the Sant Joan de Déu hospital.
The neonatology area of another hospital in Barcelona, Sant Pau, also opened its doors to a guide dog when blind parents had their baby in an incubator. Centers as important as these are always cited when explaining the advantages of assisted therapies, but the pioneering role of an outpatient clinic in Lleida, the CAP Bordeta-Magraners, which eleven years ago took the first step, is often forgotten.
Vida and Lu began working at the end of last month, with the help of professionals such as Maribel Vila, from the Affinity Foundation. They go two days a week, during which they make visits of about 20 minutes per patient. “The first impressions have been extraordinary,” comment doctors Joan Ramon Masclans and Irene Dot, head and assistant of the intensive medicine service at the Hospital del Mar.
This health and university center has strived to make its facilities even more friendly and accessible. Specially trained dogs with all health and veterinary controls are of great help even in areas as special as the ICU. It is one more step to humanize this service, which already uses music therapy, virtual reality or the possibility of patients' families participating in the cures.
Of course, not all patients will be candidates for Vida and Lu's visits. They must be people who like animals and, furthermore, their condition must allow it. Dr. Fatjó, one of the promoters of the project, witnessed a very appropriate case. “An older lady was excited when she saw them because she has two dogs and she loved petting them. ‘For a moment I felt at home,’ he told us.”
That is the objective, add Dr. Masclans and Dr. Dot: “Reduce anxiety and improve the emotional state of patients without drugs.” The Hospital del Mar, however, will not limit itself to empirically verifying the benefits of animal-assisted therapies. It will also star in an ambitious scientific study to confirm with objective data the benefits of interaction with animals.
Those who participate in the project will answer a questionnaire to evaluate their condition before and after the visits. Saliva samples will also be taken to see how hormonal levels of indicators such as cortisol or melatonin increase or decrease, true thermometers of our anxiety or well-being. The initiative has an initial duration of one year, but it is here to stay.
Those responsible for the measure are so convinced that the results will live up to expectations that they expect its continuity, if the financial help of the Affinity Foundation itself and the Amics Foundation of the hospital del Mar is maintained. “Another positive aspect is the response of health personnel. The arrival of Vida and Lu not only changes the expression of the patients, but also that of the nurses and doctors.
With adequate training, any specimen, purebred or mixed breed, can be used for assisted therapies. Both the greyhound and the female Pyrenean Shepherd have a particularly sweet and docile character. Their mission is to lie on the bed of the sick or approach them and allow them to caress them. They are not scared by the beeping of medical devices and the smells of the hospital (dogs don't see the world, they smell it).
45 years ago, a dog that looked like a wolf became an older brother to a child who gained security and confidence next to that fierce-looking animal that was actually a sheep that looked like a gladiator. Today that child claims from the Affinity Animals and Health Foundation chair, attached to the Department of Psychiatry of the UAB, the work of Vida and Lu. His appearance cannot fool anyone.
