Some of Texas Children’s most beloved employees are back in the office! Members of Texas Children’s Pawsitive Play program started seeing patients again last week prompting some much-needed laughter, smiles and fun.
Designed to enhance the emotional well-being of patients and families in the hospital, the program’s animal-assisted therapy dogs provide support to those who may be having trouble coping with a hospital stay, new diagnosis or certain medical procedure.
Our dogs work full time alongside their animal-assisted therapy coordinators and consult with the multidisciplinary team to provide goal-oriented, therapeutic interventions and emotional support for hospitalized children as well as families and staff.
“We want to ensure thoughtful and intentional visits for each consult,” said Diane Kaulen, manager of the Texas Children’s Child Life Department. “Our animal assisted therapy handlers’ work alongside the medical team to align their interventions to the individualized plan of care.”
This is especially true during the pandemic when anxiety is high and safety is of upmost concern. To ensure the safety of our patients, their families, and our staff – including our therapy dogs and their handlers – the Pawsitive Play program is resuming in a limited capacity and with added restrictions.
We need your help in enforcing these new rules. When requesting a consult for the dogs or when encountering the dogs and their handlers at one of our campuses, please keep in the mind the following:
- Animal Assisted Therapy will return to patient care for our inpatient populations only. Ambulatory and Emergency Center visits will not resume at this time.
- Per our normal guidelines, our dogs are not allowed to visit patients on any type of isolation.
- Patient referrals/consults must have a documented negative COVID-19 test.
- Patients and family members must wear a mask and wash their hands prior to and after touching the animals.
- Stopping to pet the animals in the hallways is discouraged due to social distancing guidelines. They will continue to wear their “Please Don’t Pet Me” vests as a friendly reminder of this protective restriction.
- If employees are in a situation where petting one of our animals is permissible, they will need to wear a mask, practice hand hygiene before and after petting the dog and practice social distancing during the encounter by allowing the dog to approach them.
“We are glad to be back helping our patients have the best experience and outcomes possible during their stay with us,” Kaulen said. “We also appreciate everyone’s help in keeping our dogs and handlers safe during this unprecedented time.”
For more information on the Pawsitive Play Program, click here.