An unexpected companion? Service dogs and the expression of emotions in hospital settings: an ethnographic perspective

The human-animal relationship in the hospital care setting was investigated based on an ethnographic study of an animal-assisted support program at a tertiary institution within the Brazilian Unified National Health System in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This study examines the effects of communicative interactions and the agency that regular visits by a single service dog seem to catalyze among staff members. Using the Actor-Network Theory and Donna Haraway’s concept of “companion species” as analytical frameworks, we explore the reconfiguration of social networks in the integration of a non-human other as a collaborator in health promotion activities within hospital settings. By operating according to logics not driven by power or rationality, its political role is highlighted in the various agencies produced within relational dynamics and the economy of affects. The new arrangements introduced by the service dog outline the micropolitical dimension of emotions in the reorganization of interpersonal and interspecies relationships within hospital settings. This study shows that animal-assisted support progra in hospitals can function as an innovative social technology in health, capable of reconfiguring care networks and interaction dynamics.

Keywords:
Animal Assisted Interventions; Ethnography; Healthcare Workers; Pediatric Hospitals; Health Promotion