Canine Assisted Therapy to Reduce Emergency Care Provider Stress (CANINE II)
Stress, Anxiety

About this trial
This is an interventional other trial for Stress focused on measuring Stress, Anxiety, Cortisol, Therapy, Dog, Coloring, Mandala
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
- Inclusion criteria require that participants work full time as either a nurse or physician in the Eskenazi emergency department and are willing to consent to participation.
- Participants will include residents, faculty and nurses who work in the emergency department
Exclusion Criteria:
- Exclusions include any reported prior fear or adverse reaction to dogs
Sites / Locations
- Indiana University
Arms of the Study
Arm 1
Arm 2
Arm 3
Experimental
Experimental
No Intervention
Therapy Dog
Mandala Coloring
No Intervention
This group is exposed to the therapy dog and handler. On a convenience sample of shifts, a dog will be available. Participants will not know when dogs will be present and will not be informed of whether or not they will see a dog on any given shift. The dog and handler will be kept out of site of other providers. Participants who agree to participate will be approached by study personnel between 3 and 7 hours into his or her shift and asked "would now be a good time to see a therapy dog?" If the physician answers yes, then the physician will be escorted to a separate private, quiet room away from the usual work area to interact with a therapy dog and handler. We will ask the physician to spend approximately 5 minutes with the therapy dog, but will not specify or mandate any time. Study personnel will record the time spent. Only the handler and dog will be present in the room.
This group is not exposed to the therapy dog or handler. At 3-7 hours into the shift, study personnel will encourage providers to take a 5 min period of mindfulness, achieved by coloring mandalas. Participants will be escorted out of the work area to the same private, quiet room where the interaction occurs with the dog and handler in the therapy dog group. Participants will have their choice of one of three mandalas to color and will be provided a full palette of colored pencils. When the provider's time is up, study personnel will notify them of the five minute period. Study personnel will not be present in the room but will photograph the work when the participant is done with the session and record the image in REDcap. The original art work will be returned to the provider.
This group is not exposed to the therapy dog or handler.