ITAES is an accrediting entity for health institutions recognized for developing healthcare quality and safety standards with a focus on continuous improvement and an Institutional Member of ISQua. Headquartered in Argentina and with presence throughout Latin America, ITAES has been working with hospitals, clinics and other healthcare facilities for more than 30 years and has conducted over 1,000 external quality evaluations. One of their recently accredited healthcare facilities, Instituto Argentino de Diagnóstico y Tratamiento (IADT), developed a process to permit patients to be visited by their own pets.

The “Proyecto 4 PATAS” project was planned by the IADT to provide a patient-centered medicine, considering that there are robust studies that show that pets help with the recovery or, at least, to soothe and improve the quality of life, of children with chronic conditions or some kind of disability. Prior to this, the Institute already used to organize visits by siblings and grandparents for chronically ill patients, and even for children admitted to the Intensive Care Unit.

Why should pets be the exception? Anything that collaborates, as long as it is supported by scientific evidence, can be included in the therapeutic repertoire. Regardless of the type of attachment bond, the same neurotransmitters are released. Physical contact (kissing, hugging, petting and others) produces psychological and psychophysiological benefits as it has a biological correlation in the oxytocin release system.

With this perspective, IADT worked on the proposal together with several medical areas: infectious diseases, psychology, and infection control, among others. They formulated an implementation protocol and an informed consent form. In this way, the aim is to “normalize” an extremely disruptive scenario, such as hospitalization.

Find the complete article here, written by Dr. Liliana Ortega, Head of Pediatric Service in IADT. Also available in the February 2022 ITAES monthly newsletter. Learn more here