Unleashing compassionate care: canine-assisted intervention as a promising harm reduction approach to prisonization in Canada and its relevance to forensic psychiatry

In recent years, there has been a global advancement in the offering of canine-assisted interventions (CAI) in prisons. However, these programs have focused primarily on the benefits to the dogs involved and not on the impact on the participants. The authors of this perspective study have been running a CAI program with therapy dogs, called PAWSitive Support, in a Canadian federal prison since 2016. Thoughts from the program facilitators and interviews with prison staff indicate that the program, and specifically the therapy dogs, provides a unique and integrated source of comfort, support, and love for participants. These benefits are consistent with those seen in CAI programs outside of prisons. Unique to the prison setting appears to be an improvement in participant-staff relations. The therapy dogs have helped participants to experience comfort and consequently express their emotions. This seems to contribute to their recognition of support within the prison system and specifically developing trust with staff. Additionally, the dogs have helped to create an experience of the feeling of love within the prison, interpreted as the feeling of being cared for, which is rare for this population. The authors suggest that the integration of a therapy dog intervention in prison could be a novel harm reduction strategy to address issues related to prisonization and associated mental health concerns, including substance use. This consideration can offer unique insight into the field of forensic psychiatry about providing compassionate care to patients.

Automated summary

In recent years, canine-assisted interventions (CAI) in prisons have been on the rise globally. However, most programs have focused on the benefits to dogs rather than the impact on participants. A perspective study conducted with a CAI program in a Canadian federal prison called PAWSitive Support indicates that therapy dogs provide comfort, support, and love to participants, improving participant-staff relations and helping them express emotions. The integration of therapy dogs in prisons could be a novel harm reduction strategy and offer unique insight into compassionate care for forensic psychiatry patients.