Hospital helps kids through Healing Paws program

Nine-year-old Samantha Fross hadn't seen her chihuahua, Lulu, in almost a month. Her mother, Kathie, brought in pictures for her daughter, a cystic fibrosis patient from Jacksonville, but they weren't very satisfying.

"Bring her up, bring her up," Fross begged.

That's when the two-legged creatures at Wolfson Children's Hospital stepped in to help.

The hospital in Jacksonville started Healing Paws, one of a growing number of dog visitation programs in the country, said Kristen Theisen, who handles pet care issues at the Humane Society of the United States. Launched in May, the program allows long-term pediatric patients such as Fross to reunite with family pets.

"It's hard to be in a hospital, especially when you're suffering from a major illness," said hospital president Michael Aubin. "We can fill that gap in children's lives and help them recover by bringing one of their family members — their dogs — to them."

His wife casually mentioned that she would love to have their Australian shepherd, Ripley, visit her if she was in the hospital. A few days later, Aubin passed by the double doors of an empty fire exit hallway tucked near the main entrance, and saw it as the "perfect location."

The hallway is removed enough to avoid introducing germs into the hospital and to reduce noise, but close enough to transport patients in case their health should take a bad turn. And Aubin's pet program began.

Still it wasn't that simple to pull off.

Family pet visitation programs in hospitals are rare because of strict medical and legal restrictions, said Sandra Barker, director of the School of Medicine Center for Human-Animal Interaction at Virginia Commonwealth University. . Still, a growing number of hospitals are allowing personal pet visitations to help patients feel at home, Theisen said.

Pet dogs can bring in germs and create a lot of noise. Keeping track of the dog's medical history also can be an added hassle that hospitals don't have the time and resources to handle, Barker said.

Hospitals that have family pet visits include Methodist Hospital in Texas, the Christiana Care Health System in Delaware, and the University of Iowa College of Medicine, Theisen said.

Most medical facilities allow trained therapy dogs to visit patients, while controlling everything from the vaccine in the dog's body to the shampoo on the dog's fur.

In Healing Paws, dogs must be at least 12 weeks old, potty trained, and vaccinated. Families must pay for vaccinations, but the hospital plans to provide some money in the future. A health certificate from a veterinarian also must ensure the dog's good health and all toys must be provided by the hospital's welfare department, Child Life, Aubin said.

"Kids want this," said Eric Sandler, a pediatric oncologist and hematologist, who recalls a time when he sneaked a patients' dog into the hospital. "Although 80% of our kids are cured of cancer; it's that last 20% that go through a lot. If the kid wants to, let them get down and play.That's as therapeutic as many of the other things we do."

The hospital's initial doubts about the practicality and safety of the program turned into excitement as the program's first reunion got underway. Seventeen-year-old Vanessa Blond of Starke, Fla. cuddled with her grandmother's dog, Ginger, in the program's 8-foot-by-20-foot hallway.

"The color came back in her face. It was a beautiful moment," said Vikki Mioduszewski, the hospital's public relations manager.

And with good reason. Interacting with trained therapy dogs reduces anxiety before medical procedures, distracts patients from their medical condition, and elevates mood by boosting the body's happy hormone, oxytocin, studies show.

Yet few studies confirm that these health benefits apply to dogs that patients are familiar with. A 2010 pilot study by the Virginia Commonwealth University showed reduced stress levels for patients who interacted with unfamiliar and familiar dogs, Barker said.

Unfamiliar dogs have an "energizing effect," creating a memorable event and elevating the day's excitement; familiar pets, on the other hand, provide a more calming and reassuring effect, said Emily Patterson, an animal welfare scientist of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

"When a trained therapy dog visits, it's like getting a strange person to perform music. It adds excitement to your day. When your dear pet visits, it's like a friend is visiting you. It reconnects you with your community. You feel trusted and reassured," Patterson said.

The chances of pets cuddling with patients in hospital beds are remote because of infection risks, noise, and preferences of other patients, yet family dog visitation programs in hospitals should be encouraged in controlled environments, Sandler said.

Future research should examine what kinds of patients respond to varying kinds of therapies and what place animals — whether from home or from a training facility — should have in treatment, Barker said.

"It's great to have beautiful, touchy-feely stories about human-animal interaction," Patterson said. "But we need research that connects the dots and puts sound policies and procedures in place. Doctors are trying to treat their patients; they don't have time to look up the health benefits of puppies."

Bringing animals into medical settings isn't a 21st-century medical marvel. In pre-Victorian times, mental health facilities used farm animals to help patients reconnect with nature, then thought a key part of healing.

In the 1960s, Boris Levinson's "accidental discovery" of animal therapy launched a scientific-based study of human-animal therapy, Patterson said. When Levinson, a child psychiatrist, mistakenly left his dog in a counseling room, his normally reserved child patient became friendly after coming in contact with the dog.

"Patients aren't just connecting with a dog, they're connecting with their dog," Sandler said. "For children, that's an amazing bond."