Every day, Ali Spikestein, MS, Certified Child Life Specialist, brings smiles to her young patients and their families who are being treated at the Mount Sinai Blau Center for Children’s Cancer and Blood Disease.
She credits her work partner for many of those happy faces, though. That is because Ali is a facility dog handler and her partner is Professor, a golden doodle who has been on the Mount Sinai Hospital staff since 2017. Professor is one of three facility dogs who work full-time as part of the Paws & Play program in the Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy Department.
Ali explains that Professor allows her to do her job better. “He can provide physical comfort, which goes a long way in helping patients cope and adjust, especially when I am doing my part explaining treatments and outcomes; these are sometimes difficult discussions.” She adds, “Professor provides consistency for children and their parents who may be lacking that as they progress through their disease journey.”
Ali says that children mark their calendars in anticipation of seeing Professor and that they say they feel calmer and braver undergoing transfusion and infusion treatments with him in the room.
“I cannot overstate the impact that Professor makes,” she says. “And not just on patients; he is a morale booster for staff, too.”
In addition to providing comprehensive child life and animal-assisted therapy programming, Ali is driving an innovative research study investigating the effectiveness of utilizing a facility dog during invasive medical procedures. Her data is close to being finalized, but she expects it will provide evidence of what she sees happen whenever Professor connects with a patient: lowering of anxiety and distress.
Morgan Stojanowski, MS, CCLS, Assistant Director, Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy, at Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital, has high praise for this team.
“We are very fortunate to have Ali and Professor as members of the Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy Department,” she says, “and we are proud of their amazing work. “