Hawaiin Shirt therapy

I have heard of good ideas that in many cases seem to miraculously contribute to better health outcomes. Not the least of which is people in Hawaiian shirts giving everyone a hug as they came through the door. One hospital had a VCR and several comedy tapes (3 Stooges etc) that the volunteers could set up in a patient's room. (Sometimes not recommended for the post laparotomies.) An inpatient rehab facility had volunteers bring in a puppy for a few hours once per week to interact with the residents.
In relation to a discussion of healthfraud, I pose the following questions:
Do we need clinical studies to validate and specify any real and positive health impacts associated with these interventions before we can recommend them?
Who do we expect should provide and pay for this type of intervention?
How closely, or in what ways can hospital sponsored music, comedy, or puppy "therapy" (or even Hawaiian shirt therapy) be equated to hospital sponsored religious counseling, "prayer" therapy, therapeutic touch therapy, or other vitalism dependant interventions?

dras - who always wore a white lab coat in clinical practice, usually over something like a Calvin and Hobbes pattern scrubs top.