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Madison, Wisconsin — UW Health Kids’ new volunteer program aims to help patients get through difficult days.
UW Health Kids announced the launch of Caring Canines. In this new volunteer program, dogs and their owners visit patients’ bedsides to provide “calm, companionship time and equanimity to patients and their families during their stay at American Family Children’s Hospital.”
Caring Canines replaces the Pet Pals therapy program. Petpals—a program in which volunteer dogs visit patients in groups twice a week—started in 1996. But because of the pandemic, Pet Pals has ended.
Through Caring Canines, patients can receive daily dog visits in their own room.
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Caring Canines is a separate program from CHAMPs (Canine Health and Medical Pals). A duo of facility dogs participating in that program are trained to work 40 hours with hospital staff, “utilizing a specific plan for dealing with patients in specific wards of the hospital.”
“We are excited to get this program off the ground and need help from the community to get it off the ground,” said Katie Glass, Child Life Education Specialist at UW Health Kids. “This program will allow us to scale up our efforts to help patients and families cope with the stress and uncertainty of being hospitalized.”
According to American Family Children’s Hospital, volunteers must be at least 18 years old. A Caring Canines volunteer must visit the hospital with his dog at least twice a month and he must do at least one year of volunteer work.
To qualify, a dog must sit and lie down on first command, be friendly with other dogs, stay until called on only one command, and do not bark or whine excessively. Up-to-date information on all vaccines.
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To apply for this program, which is fully funded through charity, volunteers must complete a multi-step application process that includes a temperament test. Click here for more information.
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