Paws & Play Doggy Digest 2019 issue 3

The Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy Department

2019 Issue 3

Happy 4th Birthday to Amos and Professor!

Professor and Amos both celebrated their 4th birthdays this summer! We cannot believe how time flies! To celebrate, the boys held a “Dog Days of Summer” celebration in the zone, in Kid Zone TV, on the units and in the outpatient hematology/oncology clinic. Patients made fun arts and crafts in the zone themed around summer fun including sunglasses, water bottles, and clay s’mores. Patients and staff alike were able to enjoy yummy summer treats like s’mores and fruit salad. On Kid Zone TV, patients were able to make doggy cards. Professor and Amos dressed up as some of their favorite foods, a hot dog and hamburger, and enjoyed a special dog-friendly birthday treat. Fun was had by all, and we look forward to celebrating many more birthdays together!

Family Spotlight– Sofia and Doris!

Sofia, 5 and her sister Doris, 7, love spending time with Amos both in Sofia’s room and in the Zone and KidZone TV. Amos puts a smile on the girls’ faces whether he’s snuggling in bed or playing their favorite games. Sofia and Doris love to throw treats for Amos to find, giggling all the time he is searching. Other favorite games and tricks include “peek-a-boo”, “spin” and pushing a toy shopping cart. Sofia says her favorite thing about Amos is his furriness and that he is nice, while Doris’ favorite is that he is so friendly and fluffy. Amos helps the days pass a little faster in the hospital and both girls look forward to the time they get to spend with their furry pal!

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LB 2019

National Dog Day

New Research Study with Moby!

On National Dog Day, August 26th, we acknowledge the immense impact that Professor, Amos and Moby have had on patients, families, and staff at Mount Sinai. We are lucky to work with such incredible dogs!

The Paws and Play Care for Clinical Teams, team has started the creation of their study! The objective of the research study will be to assess the impact of a Facility Dog program, Moby and art therapist on the well-being and resilience of clinical team members and support staff on high stress adult clinical environments such as the critical care units, emergency departments, and oncology units.

The focus on looking at the impact on levels of stress, depression, anxiety and physiological indicators such as heart rate, blood pressure, and cortisol levels in clinical team members at the Mount Sinai Hospital. We hope for the study to take one year.

Emergency Department Resident Orientation Moby had a blast during the emergency department new resident orientation in July! During the orientation, education about the Paws and Play Care for Clinical Teams program was shared with the new team members and fun facts about Moby. Moby supports the staff in the pediatric emergency department every week on Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays. We are so excited to make this an annual occurrence for the team to increase wellness in the Pediatric ED!

New Trading Cards Available in Spanish The Paws and Play program is excited to share that our lovable pups’ trading cards are now available in Spanish. Amos and Professor, who have both had trading cards available for patients and families to learn more about our four-legged friends, now have the ability to hand out cards to our patients and families whose primary language is Spanish. These cards provide funfacts about each dog including their birthday, hobbies, and talents and patients can collect them. We are excited for this new addition and hope patients and families continue to enjoy learning about our favorite co-workers!

New Video Highlighting Pediatric Staff Support Our team is dedicated to providing services and support for not only patients and families, but staff too! This video was created to highlight our pediatric staff support services and to give an inside look at what Amos and Professor mean to our hardworking staff and Kravis Children’s Hospital community.

Click to view! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKgpw71YX6I&feature=youtu.be

We are grateful to our partners!

Paws & Play is generously supported by PetSmart Charities® and the Mount Sinai Auxiliary Board Paws & Play: Care for Clinical Teams is generously supported by the Feil Foundation and enCourage Kids Foundation