Rainbow Bridge is a specialized program of Animals as Natural Therapy (ANT) designed to provide compassionate, evidence-informed animal-assisted support to hospice patients, bereaved families, and hospice staff during end-of-life care and the grieving process. Launched in Fall 2024 in partnership with Whatcom Hospice, Rainbow Bridge responds to a critical gap in hospice services: the need for nonverbal, relational, and regulating forms of emotional support during one of life’s most vulnerable transitions.
End-of-life experiences are often marked by heightened anxiety, anticipatory grief, emotional withdrawal, and profound loneliness—for patients and for the loved ones and caregivers supporting them. Traditional talk-based interventions are not always accessible or effective during this stage, particularly when individuals are experiencing cognitive decline, physical discomfort, or emotional overwhelm. Animal-assisted therapy offers a complementary approach that meets patients and families where they are, without requiring words, insight, or emotional stamina.
Rainbow Bridge provides trained animals, specialized staff, and carefully prepared volunteers to offer calm, grounding presence in hospice houses, care facilities, private homes, and bereavement settings. Gentle interaction with animals has been shown to reduce physiological stress responses, lower heart rate and cortisol levels, and increase serotonin, supporting emotional regulation and a sense of safety. In hospice contexts, these effects can ease anxiety, support meaningful connection, and create moments of comfort, dignity, and peace at the end of life.
Beyond direct patient support, Rainbow Bridge also serves bereaved families and hospice staff. Families navigating loss benefit from opportunities to process grief in supportive, nonclinical settings, including facilitated bereavement days at the ANT farm. Hospice staff—who experience high rates of secondary trauma and burnout—are offered animal-assisted support visits that promote regulation, reflection, and resilience, strengthening the sustainability of the caregiving workforce.
Establishing Rainbow Bridge as a distinct program allows ANT to deliver this work with the clinical sensitivity it requires. Volunteers and staff receive specialized training in trauma-informed care, boundaries, grief literacy, and end-of-life dynamics, ensuring that animal-assisted interactions are ethical, safe, and responsive to the complex needs of hospice environments.
Because hospice care is often accompanied by significant financial and emotional strain, ANT is committed to offering Rainbow Bridge services at no cost to patients and bereaved families. The annual cost to operate Rainbow Bridge is $10,000, funding a full year of animal-assisted hospice and bereavement support, including patient visits, family grief programming, hospice staff support, and specialized training.
Rainbow Bridge honors the profound role animals can play at the end of life—offering presence when words fail, comfort when fear arises, and connection when individuals are facing loss, transition, and goodbye. Through this program, ANT ensures that no one must navigate the final stages of life or grief alone
