Chiens de Cœur non-profit charms Rainier III Centre
Volunteers from the charity, accompanied by their dogs, visited the Rainier III Centre in March © Chiens de Coeur MC Facebook page
Sabine and Patrick Thienpont, two Monegasque residents, founded the Chiens de Cœur non-profit 11 years ago, and it has been a great success.
Since 2013, the charity’s volunteers, accompanied by their dogs, have been making weekly visits to nursing homes and medical facilities in the Principality. The aim is to cheer people up with the company of these much-loved fur balls.
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The charity comes to the Rainier III Centre at the Princess Grace Hospital (CHPG) every fortnight and makes a real, positive impact. Speaking to Monaco Info, Guillaume Socci, executive assistant at the Rainier III Centre, is proud of this long-standing partnership: “I would really like to pay tribute to our partnership with the Chiens de Cœur non-profit, which carries out its voluntary work, as the name suggests, with a great deal of heart and energy, because it is extremely beneficial for our patients.”
Staff notice that the dogs’ visits help to improve patients’ mental health. In fact, there are improvements immediately after the sessions as well as in the long-term, according to neuropsychologist Céline Baert: “Aside from well-being, we’ve seen that from a neuropsychological point of view, patients had fewer behavioural issues after the session. These are things that we have been able to measure objectively using psychometric tests, and we have seen real results.”
The charity currently visits 5 Monegasque facilities and is delighted with its growing and enduring success. For more information, head over to their website.