Impact of Covid-19 on Animal Assisted Therapy in Pediatric Oncology: A Child Life Specialist Perspective

Abstract

An ongoing comprehensive review of child life specialists’ perspective in the United States implies that Covid-19 negatively impacted animal assisted therapy (AAT) usage in all eligible children’s hospitals. The level at which hospitals were impacted correlated with the limitations placed on volunteers during the peak of the pandemic, in pediatric oncology settings. Most hospitals are now reimplementing AAT as a treatment tool. Early data indicates that stress from the pandemic prompted the creation of animal assisted therapy programs in hospitals that did not previously have them.