Yuki, a four legged-friend, joined the team !
Almost a year ago now the Erasmus Hospital intensive care unit welcomed a new recruit to the team. Yuki, a young Bichon Maltese, visits the unit every month to help out the nurses in caring for hospitalised patients. His job is to offer some warmth and comfort to intensive care patents. This fluffy little dog brings some welcome moments of fun and joy to the often harsh reality of hospitalisation in this unit. On 26 December we will be celebrating Yuki’s first anniversary with the team and the success of this initiative.
Zootherapy in the service of intensive care at the Erasmus Hospital: a first for Belgium
In December 2022, Yuki joined the intensive care unit at the Erasmus Hospital in what was a first for a Belgian hospital. The presence of a dog in a hospital, and especially in an intensive care unit, requires approval at a number of levels. The project had to be approved by the Erasmus Hospital management, the head of hygiene, and the head of intensive care. Everything was studied down to the smallest details, from the breed of dog – the Bichon Maltese is hypoallergenic, small, friendly and calm – to the extremely strict hygiene protocol before each hospital visit and between greeting each patient. In the course of the year Yuki greeted 70 patients and a qualitative study is currently being carried out to assess the specific results of this zootherapy in an intensive care environment.
Patients discuss it
“Yuki brought me a lot of happiness when I was in hospital. I would have liked to see him more often. I was fortunate in that I had my family who visited me every day, but I think of those who are not so lucky […] Yuki must be so important to them,” says one patient who was visited by Yuki when in hospital. It is this desire to bring a greater sense of well-being to patients that motivated Claire, an intensive care nurse, to suggest this initiative to the Erasmus Hospital management last year. Today, Yuki and Claire come to the hospital together every other Sunday, on a voluntary basis, to visit the patients and families who ask to see Yuki. Patients spend a special moment of relaxation, stroking and playing with Yuki under the watchful eye of Claire. In addition to the psychological benefits of spending time with Yuki, patients can also make some basic but important movements as they play with their four-legged friend. Movements that are important as it is sometimes very difficult for intensive care patients to maintain a minimum of motor activity.
Soon in the other group hospitals?
Yuki is all the rage in the unit and among patients, so much so that the HUDERF, a part of the H.U.B, has already expressed an interest in benefitting from zootherapy for its child patients. The process is not easy, however, as it requires a major investment in time and energy. Even if the costs and insurance are paid by the hospital, training, hygiene protocols, visits, surveillance and the welfare of the animal are all major responsibilities for the voluntary worker who looks after the dog, explains Claire, and not everybody is necessarily available for this.
