By Sharin M. Nelson, CTRS, CCLS

Today, hospitals and treatment centers look a lot different than they did just five years ago. Technology and updated facilities are a reason for this new environment, but to spend a day with hospitalized children, one could observe a new approach to healing and treatment. Pet therapy! Animals in a hospital or clinic? You must be joking? What about germs, infections and control concerns? Take a closer look and you may be able to see the benefits of this unique and valued treatment modality.

For over 10 years, I was the child life coordinator at Tampa General Healthcare Children's Medical Center. Child life therapy, in a nutshell, is to make the hospital or clinic not so scary for a child. This was carried out in a number of different ways. The most important philosophy of child life therapy is to educate children about their surroundings, promote a positive hospital experience and be an advocate for them. A child life specialist is seen as non-threatening. They will not hold patients down for tests or do anything painful to a child. We want to try and implement different methods to empower children with choices and let them feel like they have some say over what is happening to their body. Educating children, in words they understand, as to why certain tests are important and why they have to take medicine is also an important goal. One can find child life specialists in treatment rooms, accompanying patients to the operating room, in patient rooms and usually in or around the playroom or teen lounge.

The average length of stay for a hospitalized child is two to three days. Arts and crafts, games, movies, video games, playing in the playroom, special events and visitors are regular activities. These planned activities usually suffice for our patients who are admitted for just a few days. My concern was about those children who are hospitalized more often. Or, as we affectionately call them, our "frequent flyers." I am referring to the children who have done the majority of art projects in the supply closet. What could I do to make the hospital not such a "drag?" In essence, I was wondering, what would my pediatric dialysis and transplant patients enjoy? What might give them something to look forward to when coming to the hospital?

I found my answer in pet therapy. Pam Dickens, a local veterinarian's assistant, has a group of dogs that have been trained to visit people in the hospital. She usually arrives with four to five dogs ranging in size depending on what people enjoy. Almost every Thursday, the pet therapy dogs visit five to six different hospitals in the Tampa Bay area. I thought this was a great idea! These dogs are not only gentle, sweet and funny, but they usually wear sunglasses, Halloween costumes, bunny ears or seasonal bandanas. On their first visit, I ushered them right into the Pediatrics Department and into a renal transplant patient's room. The child was so excited to see them and they provided him with a bit of distraction from the current medical issues at hand. I thought, "This is so great, doesn't everyone think so?"

Apparently one of the physicians on staff was not convinced that the hospital was a place for dogs. I was called out of the room, where he grilled me on policy and procedures as well as infection control. This physician just happened to be our pediatric nephrologist. The patient population I had so hoped to reach was now in jeopardy of not being able to participate. After interviewing Pam, checking out the dogs, looking at their scrapbooks, completing a hospital-approved "Animal Facilitated Policy & Procedure," the physician gave pet therapy his approval and is now one of its biggest supporters.

The physical benefits of interacting with an animal have been said to lower blood pressure levels, release stress and tension, which in turn promotes and enhances healing. I cannot say for sure if this is true, but I can tell you what I have observed. Children that do not want to leave their rooms, children that sleep away the day and children that spend half their day on dialysis, respond to these dogs. I found them out of their rooms waiting in the playroom for the dogs to arrive. I saw them walking to the playroom after getting off dialysis to see the dogs rather than leaving right away. I saw children smile. I heard them stop crying. If only for a moment, I watched children have fun and not worry about being sick and I saw families forget about the stress and anxiety they face for a short time.

Is this to say a fuzzy face, cold nose and sloppy kisses are a cure all? Probably not. However, I would say that pet therapy is a wonderful way to make a hospital or clinic friendlier, provide distraction for families as well as the healthcare team, break up the monotony of a day, provide an outlet for expression through dialogue, help to build rapport with children and medical staff if they participate together, give families a chance to appreciate their own family pet and give children that come to the hospital or clinic on a routine basis, something to look forward to.

Written by Sharin M. Nelson, CTRS, CCLS. Sharin is the Director of Program Development at the Children's Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. 

This article originally appeared in aakpRENALIFE, Vol. 16, No. 5, March 2001.

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