This presentation summarizes relevant research related to the delivery of animal-assisted services and presents a specific practice example program; Virginia Commonwealth University’s Dogs on Call program. This program, housed in the School of Medicine’s Center for Human-Animal Interaction, will celebrate 25 years of service in June 2026. Researchers have evaluated the program using a wide range of methodologies, but most recent research, using the gold standard of research methodology; randomized controlled trials, will be presented and discussed.

Various outcomes have been examined, including cortisol, loneliness, anxiety, mood, and depression. The results consistently show positive outcomes for the program, indicating that there is something special and unique about the dog visitation in a hospital setting. The results will be presented in a top line manner with a focus on implications, limitations and future directions for this program and other similar forms of animal-assisted services.