Animal Assisted Therapy - Washington County Hospital

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During a patient’s hospital stay doctors, nurses and therapists ask questions, provide directives and often request tests. A visiting dog asks nothing of the patient. Both patient and dog derive happiness from being with one another.

Washington County Hospital understands the healing powers of animal-assisted activity and therapy. According to the Delta Society, a human services organization, animal-assisted therapy is a goal-directed program aimed at improving a person’s physical, emotional, or cognitive function. Animal-assisted activity is a more casual “meet and greet” interaction that involves pets visiting people.

Total Rehab Care ventured into animal-assisted activity and therapy in the late 1990s. Cindy Earle, RN, envisioned pet visits as a way to motivate her acute rehab patients during their three hours of daily therapy. Total Rehab Care, Infection Control, and the Hospital Auxiliary created a dog visitation policy, and Gracie, a gentle golden retriever and her dog handler, Daniel Franklin, DVM, answered the call. With the first Human Resource-issued dog-employee badge attached to her green bandana, Gracie inspired and nuzzled patients to health.

In 2005 the program received Joint Commission approval. Currently, the Hospital has two canine/human visiting teams. Dog owners must be a hospital volunteer and participate with their dogs in training and behavioral assessments through the Delta Society or Therapy Dogs International. Dog handlers must also provide a medical history of the animal, show current vaccinations, and opt to carry additional liability insurance.

The patient’s doctors, nurses, and occupational or physical therapists request group and individual visits. The hospital offers animal-assisted activity and therapy to patients in Palliative Care, Physical and Occupational Rehab, and Behavioral Health. Approximately four dog visits occur a month.

Benefits of Animal-Assisted Activity

Our hospital sees the many benefits of certified therapy dog visitations. Animal-assisted activity and therapy provide…

An outward focus. Behavioral health patients with mental illness or low self-esteem watch and talk about the animals rather than thinking and talking about themselves and their problems.
Mental stimulation. Palliative care patients use the positive distractions to help ease feelings of isolation and alienation. The animal entertainment, increased communication with other people, and recalled memories all provide mental activity.
Physiological well-being. Many patients relax when animals are present. Studies indicate that an animal presence lowers patients' heart rates and blood pressure.
Physical mobility. Recreational therapists use dogs to motivate patients to walk down a hospital corridor, or improve their balance by playing a game of fetch.

Adapted with permission from www.deltasociety.org.

According to Allen Twigg, clinical manager of Behavioral Health, visiting dogs provide patients with an opportunity to make a connection at a time when they feel most vulnerable. “We treat many people who feel depressed, alone, or hopeless,” reflected Twigg. “It’s amazing how responsive and active people can become when the dogs visit. It helps people take the focus off of their emotional or physical problems, even if only momentarily.”

As Kate Collins, dog owner and hospital volunteer points out, dog visitations also benefit visiting family members and hospital staff. Kate and her three-year-old border terrier, Badger, often ease young children’s tension when visiting a sick parent or grandparent. “It’s hard when young children come to see grandma and she has tubes attached to her,” said Collins. Badger and Collins often greet children in the hospital lobby and immediately change the dynamic of the visit. “After seeing us, the kids report to grandma about the furry dog they just saw in the lobby,” said Collins. “The focus and conversation is now on the dog, not on the sickness.”

The Delta Society has over 10,000 registered pet partner teams in the United States, and that number continues to climb as hospital, clinics, assisted living and rehab centers embrace puppy love as another way to heal the body and soul.