This Hospital In Belgium Allows Pets To Accompany Patients Who Undergo Long-Term Treatment

Illustration. (Unsplash/Leiada Krozjhen)

JAKARTA - A hospital in Belgium has built a pavilion that allows pets to visit patients undergoing palliative treatment or who suffer from diseases that require long-term treatment, in order to increase the patient's enthusiasm.

As a result, the majority of hospitals around the world do not allow pets in hospital care facilities, citing cleanliness and risk of contamination.

It also happened at Sint-Trudo Hospital, where for years long-term patients at the hospital who wanted to meet their pets had to go out to the hospital grounds.

However, in a conversation between cancer patients and hospital psychologists, the idea emerged to create a special room indoors, separate from the house. The result was a pavilion for a pet visit that opened last month.

"For long-term hospital patients, mental health is very important in their recovery, and reconnection with pets is very helpful," said spokesman Miet Driesen in Sint-Trudo in Sint-Truiden, Belgium.

Funded by cancer charitys of 140,000 euros (US $ 152,000), this new venue allows patients to meet their pets for an hour per week. For now only dogs and cats are allowed.

For the patient Greta Donnay (56 years old) who recently recovered from a bacterial infection, a reunion with her dog, Rambo, is a driving force.

"Seeing your own dog doesn't cure you, it gives you encouragement," he said, adding that it also means a lot to the animal.

"You can't explain to dogs what happened and why you weren't present," he said.

Starting next September, the hospital also plans to use the pavilion for a session with a charity that uses therapeutic dogs to rehabilitate mental and motor skills.

So far, requests for visits are still being submitted to dogs, although cats are actually allowed.

"For cats, there are usually more patients who worry about their cats than vice versa," said Driesen.