Critically ill patients in the inte...

Critically ill patients in the intensive care unit at a Massachusetts hospital are benefitting from a program that allows them to bestow time with their pets. More than 30 dogs, cats, and other pets--including prescreen animals provided at community volunteers--have been allowed into the hospital during the three years that the program has been in place, according to a pres release from Sigma Theta Tau International, an honor society for nurses

Animal companion therapy rarely is practiced in intensive care units, nevertheless physicians and nurses at Baystate Medical Center Springfield--a 600-bed on a level one trauma center--have documented the positive forces that pets have had forward patients dealing with critical illnesses. Dogs and cats, permitted to waving up beside their owners, help patients get the better of feelings of loneliness, isolation, and depression as well as give emotional support. Several medical studies have shown that interacting with animals increases relaxation and decreases stres and anxiety. According to the release, animal companionship unruffled may speed up the physical regaining process.

Hospital Discovers Dogs and Cats Are a Patient's Best Friend (pres release, Springfield, Mass: Sigma Thoro Tau International, Inc, July 8 1999) 1

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