Korian Italia, leader in services from prevention to treatment, is increasingly confirming itself as Pet Friendly. All dogs, in fact, have long been welcome in the common areas of the social and healthcare facilities of the health network. These areas, sponsored by Purina*, are identified by information totems and free Dentalife* dog snack product kits. This initiative is in line with Purina’s mission to enrich the lives of pets and the people who love them wherever they are.
The project – reports a note – is part of the broader journey with animals that Korian has undertaken for years. Since 2015, in fact, a Dog Camp has been active at the Heliopolis residence in Binasco, where since last year dog educators, instructors, trainers, dog sitters, Pet Therapy operators of the PETS association, in addition to offering their own courses and a Dog service Sitting, they also give life to a series of dog events dedicated to guests in collaboration with PetPro, a company that has been developing marketing projects dedicated to the needs and well-being of dog owners & Co. for over 10 years. This year the meetings are scheduled in 15 structures throughout the national territory.
“We are proud and satisfied to have made our facilities Pet Friendly and to consolidate our path with animals thanks to various valuable projects, because we strongly believe in a 360° Positive Care approach, which combines traditional therapies with initiatives with social purposes , useful not only for the psycho-physical well-being of our guests, but also to make them feel active, stimulated and part of a community”, comments Federico Guidoni, president and CEO of Korian Italia. “A vision that fits perfectly into the context of those projects for common benefit that we carry out as part of our commitment as a Benefit Company”.
Korian has always carried out Pet Therapy projects for its guests in various socio-healthcare facilities – the note recalls – an activity that is as exciting as it is functional which, integrated in support of traditional therapies, brings numerous benefits including socialization and overcoming of the sense of loneliness, motor reactivation and stimulation of cognitive abilities. An initiative that is part of a 360° approach to the patient, which places the person themselves at the center of everything, respecting their characteristics, needs and desires – Positive Care – and which concretely improves the well-being of teams and patients, helping them in maintaining memorization skills and reducing learning difficulties, as well as strengthening self-esteem and bringing a dose of good humor.
The 4-legged friends are then protagonists at the Dog Camp of the Rsa Heliopolis in Binasco, born in 2015 from the collaboration with PetPro. The Dog Camp is a large space equipped with houses to house dogs and green areas equipped for walking animals and for ad hoc courses, also open to citizens. The camp is managed by the PETS association, which organizes courses and offers a Dog Sitting service to visitors, in collaboration with PetPro. Furthermore, the Rsa Heliopolis in Binasco is equipped with apartments dedicated to those elderly people who, despite being in a socio-health facility, do not want to give up the company of their pet and decide to take it with them. It was in fact the first residence for the elderly in Italy which, since 2015, allowed guests to bring their animals with them.
Korian’s collaboration with PetPro has also been strengthened and extended to a new project, which started in March 2024, with a series of dog events in 15 facilities across the country, which will allow guests and patients to spend quality time in contact with animals, thus increasing their psycho-physical well-being. Korian and PetPro have thus created a series of monthly appointments, ‘Friends with a tail’: one Saturday a month, for an hour a day, we go beyond simple Pet Therapy with meetings aimed at around 35 guests per facility, with l The aim is to make them have fun, remember, smile and maybe even shed a few tears with emotion.
“In 2015, with the Dog Camp Heliopolis and the apartments equipped for guests with animals, together with Korian we started a wide-ranging, almost visionary project”, explains Paolo Santini, administrator of PetPro. “Korian has always worked to make its structures places of life. In this new model, the 4-legged world plays a crucial role not only for its therapeutic value, but also, and perhaps above all – he specifies – for the simple, but profound impact deriving from the presence of dogs and the elderly. On these premises we have decided to extend the project to other RSA facilities in Korian, with themed meetings where guests will be involved in fun and educational activities in the company of our dogs, the real protagonists. of these meetings. In this way we further enrich their daily lives, providing new stimuli and opportunities for pure joy”.
Thanks to the dogs and the work of dog educators, during the Friends with the Tail events the elderly are made more active and their self-esteem increases, in an exciting context. The guests are encouraged, after some demonstrations and always with the support of specialists, to work with the animals, giving them a series of basic commands: an activity that makes them feel truly involved and stimulated and which also benefits them from the physical, stimulating mnemonic skills and memories. At the end of each meeting, the 4-legged friends parade among the patients and the wheelchairs to be petted, coming into direct contact with those who want it and bringing a smile, and souvenir photos are taken that the patient can take with them to relive that rewarding experience at all times.
The monthly meetings will take place from February to June and from October to December, suspending activities in the warmer months to ensure the well-being of the 4-legged ‘specialists’. Each structure involved will participate in 6 meetings, while the Rsa Heliopolis, being a larger residence equipped with ad hoc spaces, will host 12. Each meeting will follow a specific theme: from the presentation meeting to the Grandfather’s Day – during which the elderly who wish will be able to give a gift to the dogs – through the ‘Arrival of Summer’, where guests will learn to brush the animals, and the Dog Day, up to the monstrous Halloween costumes and Christmas . The 15 structures involved: Heliopolis in Binasco (Mi), Vittoria (Brescia), San Giulio di Bergazzo (Como), Antonio Vivaldi di Cantù (Como), Il Ronco di Valle Intelvi (Como), the Prealpina di Cuvio (Varese), The Towers of Retorbido (Pavia), Mazzarello and Collegio San Filippo Neri (Turin), Villa Benedetta (Viterbo), Villa Margherita of Rocca Priora (Rome), Villa Sacra Famiglia (Rome), Residenza Aurelia of Santa Marinella (Rome), Villa Carla and Villa Silvana of Aprilia (Latina).
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