Clinical trial · Observational
Animal Assisted Activity Program on Patients and Staff on an Inpatient Surgical Oncology Unit
Caring Canines: Outcomes From an Animal Assisted Activity Program on Patients and Staff on an Inpatient Surgical Oncology Unit
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
The purpose of this study is to describe the effects of canine-assisted activity visits on patients and staff in a hospital setting. The Caring Canines program uses dogs who have been trained to be obedient, calm and comforting. It involves a visit by a volunteer (called the dog's handler) and the volunteer's dog that has been trained and tested to have a good personality and to follow commands. A visit typically lasts about 10-15 minutes with the patient interacting with the dog while the dog is supervised by the handler. Memorial Sloan Kettering currently has Caring Canine dogs visit patients but the investigators don't yet know the impact of these visits on patients and staff. The investigators would like to see how the Caring Canine visits impact a patients' mood, including anxiety, stress, and sense of well-being. Two groups of patients will take part in this study - the first group will receive standard post surgery care and will not receive a visit from the Caring Canines program and the second group will receive daily visits (Tuesday -Friday) from the Caring Canines program while they are on M15. The purpose of this study is to look at differences in well-being between patients who have the visits with the dogs and patients who do not.
Conditions
Conditions (1)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postoperative Care | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
Interventions
Interventions (3)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| baseline and post assessment | Behavioral | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Caring Canine program | Behavioral | — | UNRESOLVED |
| standard post surgery care | Other | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (3)
- label
- standard post surgery care
- description
- An initial cohort of consecutive patients admitted to the 15th floor of the hospital on a Monday or Tuesday will form the usual care control arm of the study. Once this cohort is completed, the Caring Canines program will start.
- interventionNames
- Other: standard post surgery care
- label
- Caring Canines program
- description
- Once the standard of care cohort is completed, the Caring Canines program will start making visits on the 15th floor and a second cohort of consecutive patients admitted to M15 on a Monday or Tuesday will form the intervention (experimental) arm of the study.patients admitted to M15 on a Monday or Tuesday will form the intervention (experimental) arm of the study.
- interventionNames
- Behavioral: Caring Canine program
- Behavioral: baseline and post assessment
- label
- staff canine-assisted
- description
- For the staff portion of this study a longitudinal pre and post intervention design will be used. Baseline staff assessments will occur prior to the Caring Canine program being implemented on the unit. The assessments include questions about compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue as well as some open ended questions about your thoughts on the Caring Canines program. Post assessment will occur after the program has been active on the unit for at least 6 weeks. Only staff who work at least one Monday - Friday day shift each week will be eligible to participate.
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: Patients * Age greater than 21 * Admitted to M15 following a Monday or Tuesday surgery * Ability to speak and read English. Staff * Age greater than 21 * Works at least one day shift a week on M15 * Ability to speak and read English Exclusion Criteria: Patients * Self reported allergy to dogs * Medical need to be in an isolation room * Medical need to be in a Protective Environment room . Staff * Self reported allergy to dogs
References
Publications (0)
Data not yet available