8
Animal-Assisted Activities
VI. Contact Tracing
A. The facility should develop a system of contact tracing that at a
minimum requires animal handlers to sign in when visiting and ideally
provides a permanent record of areas and/or room numbers where the
animal has interacted with patients.
VII. Environmental Cleaning
A. Practice routine cleaning and disinfection of environmental surfaces
after visits. Clean and disinfect all areas (eg, floors, chairs) with an
a US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered hospital
disinfectant.
B. It is recommended that a clean additional bed sheet be used to cover
the bed if the animal has contact with surface of the bed, and this
should be removed and laundered after the animal visit. If a separate
sheet is not used, replace any bedding that might be contaminated.
Service Animals
Situations sometimes arise in which a patient or visitor claims that a dog is a
service animal (and the animal may be wearing a vest or other item identifying
it as a service animal), but the animal's behavior suggests that the animal is not
a service animal (eg, the animal appears undisciplined, repeatedly approaches
other visitors or patients for attention, does not display any behavior that is
assisting its master, etc.). HCPs or staff may ask the patient to describe what work/
tasks the dog performs for the patient, but may not ask for a "certification" or
"papers." ere are no formal certification or registration programs for service
animals and certificates and paperwork can be readily purchased for any pet
from various "agencies." e facility's policy should note that the term "service
animal," as defined under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), does not
include dogs used for the provision of emotional support, well-being, comfort, or
companionship. It may be helpful to quote directly from the ADA regulations that
make this distinction.
I. Each healthcare facility should have a policy regarding the
admittance of service animals into the facility.
A. The policy allowing service animals into the facility should be
compliant with the ADA, any other applicable state and local
regulations (note that federal law pre-empts more restrictive state or
local regulations).
