PAWSitive Play Animal Assisted Therapy at Texas Childrens

PAWSitive Play: Animal Assisted Therapy at Texas Children’s Hospital 1

Meet Elsa! • 1 st Facility Dog that started our program • Born on February 25 th • “Frozen” Liter • Works with Hem/Onc, Palliative, and Renal patients 2

Meet Bailey! • 2 nd Facility Dog to join our program • Born on June 22 nd • “Finding Dory” liter • Works in Legacy Tower with ICU and Cardiology patients • Obsessed with Peanut Butter • Loves all toys that squeak 3

Meet Pinto! • 3 rd Facility Dog to join our program • Born on November 5 th • “Legume” liter • Works with Acute Care, Inpatient Rehab, and Emergency Center 4

Where do the facility dogs come from? 5 • Canine Assistants is a non-profit in Atlanta, GA that has matched over 1, 500 service dogs (individual + facility placements) • Partnership with organization for the life of the dog (continuous support, training assistance, site visits, etc. ) • Matching is tailored to specific hospital environment after site visit as well as patient population

Canine Assistants - Training 6 • Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers, and Golden/Lab mixes are bred, raised, and trained on-site at “the farm” in Atlanta until they graduate and are matched (1. 5 – 2 years old) • All dogs are trained as service dogs to start • Facility dogs are identified during training based on personality • All facility dogs do on-site training at the Children’s Hospital of Atlanta to become accustomed to sights, sounds, and smells of hospitals

Evidence-Based Benefits of Animal Assisted Therapy • Increased: emotional well-being, happiness, calm, relaxation, healing, adjustment to hospital environment, self-confidence etc. • Decreased: anxiety, perception of pain, fear, isolation, etc • Therapy Dogs remind children of home and personal pets, act as a non-judgmental and unconditionally-loving companion, create a calming environment and provide distraction • Therapeutic benefits for families and staff 7

How Animal Assisted Therapy Works • Facility Dog Handlers: Certified Child Life Specialists • Background education in Family and Child Development • 3 -5 years experience working with hospitalized children • Trained to address coping concerns and provide psychosocial and emotional support in a developmentally appropriate way • Utilizes facility dog as a tool to provide goal-oriented therapeutic interventions • Full- time presence of dog allows for: 8 • Increased flexibility and capacity to meet requests • Ability to do planned interventions and follow-up visits • Consistency for returning patients • More opportunities for engagement with families and staff

What Elsa, Bailey & Pinto Do Every Day • Provide emotional support • Collaborate with Physical, Occupational & Speech therapy to encourage mobility and participation • Normalize the environment • Endorse eating according to treatment plans • Supportive presence during procedures • Promote a sense of community • PLAY! 9

Our dogs even provide STAFF SUPPORT! When staff feel emotionally supported they are able to provide the best care to our patients and families 10

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