Promoting the Benefits of Therapy Dogs in Healthcare Settings through Children\u27s Literature

This doctoral capstone experience was completed in partnership with Dr. Christi Williams, PT, DPT, OCS, Cert. MDT. Dr. Williams has a mission to educate others of all ages on the benefits of animal-assisted interventions in a wide variety of settings - most notably, healthcare settings. The primary focus of this project was to create a children\u27s book to teach others about how therapy dogs can be incorporated into a wide variety of healthcare settings in more ways than just petting the dog. It is the hope that through this book more families and healthcare professionals will be inspired to register their own dog so that together we can continue to bring joy and comfort to all those in need through therapy animals. A presentation was also created as a resource for occupational therapy practitioners interested in publishing therapeutic books for children to advocate for occupational therapy in an emerging practice area