Like many, I cherish my dogs and understand the heartache of separation. This personal connection fuels my professional dedication at Cincinnati Children’s, where I frequently utilize the Family Pet Center to enhance patient care.
As a child life specialist within the inpatient bone marrow transplant unit at the Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute, my role revolves around enriching the hospital experience for young patients and their families. This involves fostering play, offering educational resources, and providing crucial emotional and psychosocial support. A unique and impactful service we offer at Cincinnati Children’s is family pet visits, facilitated through our dedicated Family Pet Center.
A Home Away From Home: The Importance of Pet Visits During Extended Hospital Stays
Patients on our unit often face prolonged hospitalizations, meaning they are separated from their familiar home environment, school, siblings, friends, and, importantly, their beloved pets. Recognizing this significant absence, Cincinnati Children’s established the CancerFree KIDS & Impact 100 Family Pet Center in 2013. This thoughtfully designed space includes a grassy outdoor area and a sheltered structure that can be heated during colder weather, ensuring comfort for both patients and their furry companions. With the approval of the medical team, families of patients staying five days or longer can schedule visits, bringing dogs and cats to reconnect with their hospitalized children in the family pet center.
Integrating the Family Pet Center into Patient Care
Since its inception, the Family Pet Center has been an invaluable resource in my work with patients. Witnessing the pure joy these visits bring to children is incredibly rewarding and underscores the effort involved in coordinating them. The positive impact is always evident and makes every arrangement worthwhile.
Here are several ways I incorporate the Family Pet Center to support patients and their families:
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Consistent Weekly Pet Visits: One patient eagerly anticipates her weekly Wednesday visits. It’s become a special occasion, with her carefully selecting an outfit for her pet’s arrival. Her devoted mother undertakes a four-hour round trip to bring their dog to the hospital, demonstrating the profound value of these interactions.
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Therapy Dog Companionship: For children who do not have pets at home or whose pets live too far away for visits, we arrange interactions with volunteer therapy dogs through our dedicated volunteer dog coordinator. These trained animals offer comfort and companionship, extending the benefits of the family pet center to even more patients.
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Incorporating Pet Visits into Therapy Goals: Occupational and physical therapists creatively integrate pet visits into patient therapy plans. The prospect of seeing their pet can serve as powerful motivation for a child to participate actively in their therapy, such as walking to the family pet center as part of a mobility goal.
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Celebrating Milestones and Special Occasions: The Family Pet Center provides a unique setting for families to celebrate holidays together in a more relaxed and joyful atmosphere. We’ve even organized events like Easter egg hunts, allowing families to share special moments outdoors with their pets during hospitalization.
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Providing Comfort During End-of-Life Care: The family pet center offers a peaceful outdoor space for patients and families during end-of-life care. During the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, it became especially crucial, allowing a patient to see his sibling and a therapy dog in a safe, private setting when other visitation was limited. These moments are profoundly meaningful for everyone involved.
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Creating Lasting Memories: To help families preserve these precious moments, I often document family pet center visits with photographs. These images are then shared with the families, creating tangible memories of joyful connection during a challenging time.
The Positive Impact of the Family Pet Center on Families
Research consistently demonstrates the therapeutic benefits of animal interaction for patients. Access to pets or therapy dogs demonstrably reduces stress and lowers heart rates, fostering a sense of calm and relaxation. In my experience, witnessing the impact of the Family Pet Center on a child’s psychosocial, emotional, and mental well-being is truly remarkable every single time.
The overwhelming sentiment expressed by families is deep gratitude. They are profoundly thankful for the opportunity to bring their pets to the hospital, emphasizing how much these visits mean to them and their children. These visits provide patients with something positive to anticipate and joyfully recount afterward, sharing stories and pictures with hospital staff: “I saw Buddy today!” or “Patches was so happy to see me, he licked my face!” The family pet center becomes a source of joy and connection for the entire family during a stressful period.
Furthermore, the center offers a secure and private environment for patients who may have compromised immune systems and cannot be in public areas. Often, these visits represent a rare chance for children to spend time outdoors, breathe fresh air, and feel sunshine on their faces, experiences that are often missed during extended hospitalization.
Treating the Whole Child: Recognizing the Importance of Family and Home
As both a child life specialist and a devoted dog lover, I deeply appreciate Cincinnati Children’s commitment to offering family pet visits. From a personal perspective, I understand the profound role pets play in family life. Professionally, it’s commendable that Cincinnati Children’s embraces a holistic approach to care, recognizing that a child’s well-being extends beyond their medical condition. By providing the family pet center, the hospital acknowledges and supports the vital connection to home and family, including our furry members. It is a privilege to be a child life specialist and facilitate these incredibly meaningful experiences for patients and their families.
Pictured above: Cincinnati Children’s patient Heather is overjoyed during a visit with her family dog, George, at the Family Pet Center.
For further details or to arrange a visit to the Family Pet Center, please consult your child’s Child Life specialist, contact the pet center directly at 513-636-PETS (7387), or send an email to [email protected].
The Family Pet Center is generously supported by a grant from Impact 100 to CancerFree KIDS.
