Pawsitive Living

Juletta and Bailey

This week, I was touched emotionally in several ways. First of all, on Sunday I watched Jaycee Dugard’s interview and was impressed that she is using Animal-Assisted Therapy as a part of her treatment after years of abuse when she was kidnapped.  What a wonderful testament to the healing power of Animal- Assisted Therapy!

I was also very touched by my visit last Thursday to Hill Crest Behavioral Health Services. This Pawsitive Living visit is a 12-week program for adolescent girls. The group was small at my visit which gave the girls a wonderful opportunity to really interact with the dogs and get one on one attention from the pet partners. The program was run by Sonia, who has been a school teacher. She was great at keeping the girls engaged and teaching them important lessons while also making the experience a lot of fun. The first activity that we did was with emotion cards. The cards had either: happy, sad, angry, scared, surprised or a question mark on them. Sonia then asked some questions about feelings such as how you feel about shopping, food, your family, and with each question you held up your emotion to that item. It was a great lesson about the diversity of feelings that a group of people can have about the same thing and being aware that other people may have different emotions from each other. It was also good for the girls to discuss why they felt the way they did about the things she asked about.  



Carrie and Spice



We next went around the room and talked about what made us the happiest. I was so pleased to hear most of the girls say that being with their family and friends made them the happiest. Many people included their pets in their family as part of what makes them happy as well! Sonia taught the girls about safety with the dogs and the importance of remembering that as wonderful as all the Hand in Paw dogs are, they are still animals and can do unexpected things.  Terri and Abby showed the girls some of the skills that must be performed during evaluations for the animal therapy teams. Hand in Paw animals must pass several tests to be registered for visits. Earlier this summer I was able to volunteer at an evaluation, and I was amazed at all the components that the animals must be proficient in. We really ask for a lot of discipline and focus from therapy animals.

Terri and Abby

Ingrid and Katie

Pat and Allie

Kaci and Maggie

The best part of the night was when the girls practiced leading the dogs. At the end of their program, part of their “graduation” is a visit to the main hospital with the animals and pet partners. They can experience what it is like to be a volunteer with Hand in Paw. This introduces a positive outlet for them as well as a way to give back. Each girl took a turn leading a dog with the animal’s owner on the other side. After everyone had a turn, Sonia asked them how they felt. I was surprised to learn that most of the girls were concerned that they would mess up at first. After successfully leading the dogs they all said they were happy and excited that they had done it correctly.

   



These girls are really special. I could tell that over time, there had been such improvements in their relationships with the animals and the pet partners. They had many more sessions left and I can’t wait to go back and see those relationships grow. These long-term programs really have a strong impact because they allow for bonds to develop. I was amazed watching the faces of the girls over the hour and a half we were there. They came into the room with all kinds of different emotions, but they all left with the sweetest smiles on their faces. The dogs really changed their moods and they became more and more verbal as they felt more comfortable. This visit was such a testament to the emotional effects from the unconditional love we can receive from animals.

Learning with Animals

Last Friday I went on a great visit to the LJCC day camp that is presented by Hand in Paw called Learning with Animals. The kids at the camp were 1^st grade and up. I attended camp on the final day and I was amazed by how attentive and well-behaved the children were. They learned about therapy animals, how to train the dogs and they even got to demonstrate giving commands to the animals. I could tell they had learned a lot over the week about how to treat pets and safety around animals. After the kids left, I spoke with one of the Hand in Paw volunteers that is a school teacher. I asked her about the difference in the children’s attention and discipline as compared with her school children. She said she felt that the dogs had a calming effect on the kids. She also noticed that the interaction with the animals was a motivating factor for the children to behave. In addition to better behavior, several children were observed “coming out of their shells” as a result of the dogs. The more shy children made new friends more easily because they could bond with the other children with the help of the animals.  In my experience, people are far more social when animals are present.

Daisy and Bethenee and their campers

 Another interesting thing that I observed was when one little girl became upset over something and was crying. One of the dogs stayed right by her side until she felt better. Daisy’s pet partner said that she is very attuned to people’s emotions. The little girl had a visible improvement in her affect and mood while her furry companion paid so much attention to her. I am constantly amazed by the wonderful situations that I observe while going on these visits. I believe that I have a unique perspective, while the pet partners must remain aware of their animals and the people who they are visiting, I can sit back and watch for the subtle things that happen.  I am so excited to share these important, sometimes small,  impacts with the people who devote so much time, energy and love to Hand in Paw.

Exceptional Visit at The Exceptional Foundation...

Yesterday I went on a visit to the Exceptional Foundation.  According to their mission statement, the Exceptional Foundation strives to meet the social and recreational needs of the exceptional population in Birmingham. The definition of “exceptional” is broad, but the participants that I met were children and teenagers that had autism, Down Syndrome and other developmental delays. There were three Hand in Paw teams at this visit: Beth and Rosie, Andrea and Ludo, and Greg and Ivan. This visit is a part of the “wind down” period at the end of the day (5:00 pm) before the participants go home. The participants told me that they like to pet the dogs, walk them around the gym, brush their fur and watch them perform tricks. I really enjoyed interacting with these exceptional people and watching their enthusiasm over small joys- like the little girl who asked to take pictures with my camera and laughed with delight as she snapped away.

Andrea with Ludo, Beth with Rosie, and Greg with Ivan

The volunteers at the Foundation told me that several of the participants become much more social and engaged when the animal teams are present. The pet partners shared that over time (the same teams come to the Exceptional Foundation twice a month) they had formed bonds with certain participants and that those connections had grown from the animal interactions.  Greg shared with me that at one visit, a young boy with autism had stayed away from he and Ivan and the other participants. Greg surmised that the child might be afraid of the dog, but acknowledged that the child was watching them closely. Eventually, when Greg brought out Ivan’s brush, the boy came over. He did not want to pet the dog or interact with Greg, but he brushed Ivan’s fur for the remainder of the afternoon. When Greg told the child’s mother about this interaction, she told him that she was surprised, because it was unlike the boy to come over and engage in an activity like that. I think that story sums up the benefits of the animal visits at the Exceptional Foundation. The participants come together to visit with the animals and social interactions are the result. Some of the interactions are with the animals, some with each other and some with the pet partner. Though many of us take social interactions and engaging with other people for granted, for the exceptional population, these interactions are an important part of development. Hand in Paw is truly beneficial to the Exceptional Foundation by helping meet the goals of their mission statement- improve the social and recreational needs of the exceptional people that participate there!

Great Visit Today at UAB's Comprehensive Cancer Center

Today I went on a visit to the Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB. I shadowed Terri and her precious King Charles Cavalier, Katie. Terri is unique in that she has two therapy dogs- Abby and Katie- both are King Charles Cavaliers, but she alternates who goes on which visits. We arrived at 7:00 am because the children who are treated in the morning are slightly sedated so they can be still during their treatments. We visited with the children and adults in the lobby area and everyone responded so favorably to Katie. To me, the amazing thing about animal therapy is that it gets conversations going that might not start otherwise. If I sit in a waiting room at a doctor’s office or hospital, I might speak to the person right next to me, but usually I don’t. And I never make the rounds around the room to speak to each individual. However, having a pet makes this feel comfortable, and those people that need a little lift, often get it. All this is made possible by the unconditional love of animals.

Terri and Katie



I am learning from these visits exactly what I had hoped that I would. Hand in Paw is improving the mood, anxiety levels, communication, engagement and socialization of the patients and their families on Petscription visits. Hearing these patients’ stories is sometimes heartbreaking, but the joy and happiness that the animals provide is inspiring and I’m really blessed to be a part of it. P.S. I am officially registered now with the Delta Society and Hand in Paw as a Therapy Visit Assistant and will continue to volunteer once this project is complete. :)

Changing hands

My name is Lauren and like Rebeccah, who started this blog, I am an Honors student in the UAB School of Nursing. I have selected Hand in Paw for the service-learning project that is a part of the Honors curriculum. A service-learning project entails working with a community partner in a mutually beneficial relationship. The student learns valuable skills and the partner can utilize the service of the nursing student. I chose Hand in Paw because of the significant impact this agency had on my family when my grandmother was required to live in a nursing home. Hand in Paw volunteers visited her facility often and the mood improvement I saw in my grandmother was remarkable. I feel very passionately about the effect that animals have on humans, especially people who are ill, need to be treated for a medical condition, or have a developmental delay. I will be continuing the work of the Honors in Nursing students before me and conducting infection control surveys for quality assurance during visits. To add my own touch to this on-going project, I will also be looking at the effects the visits have on socialization, communication, anxiety levels, reality orientation, attention, concentration, engagement, affect and mood of the patients, residents or students.  I am so excited to be working with this wonderful organization! I hope to post lots of pictures and videos of the visits soon and sharing my journey through this project.

Visit To The Bell Center

 

Shelly and Lucy



Prince Running Through the Tunnel

Last week I visited the Bell Center (http://www.thebellcenter.org/) with Hand-In-Paw.  This center is a place where new parents can go if they have a child born with a physical or mental disability.  What a haven this facility is.  As you can see by their website, the Bell center has programs for helping these children progress in their physical and mental abilities and gives the parents a hope that they can care for their little one even amidst the challenges.  I had the opportunity to meet the lovely Ms Bell.  She truly is a wonderful lady and is very proud of all the children that come to her facility.  Lucy and Prince love visiting as they receive loads of attention from the children.  On this particular day they led the children through an obstacle course, hunting for pumpkins.  Both Lucy and Prince were an inspiration for the children to crawl, climb, balance, march, step & jump, and finally slide.  At the end, the dogs were rewarded with a small treat fed to them by the children which also helped them with their coordination and fine motor skills.

Rebeccah

Ms. Bell, Teena and Prince
In the Middle of the Obstacle Course

INTRODUCTION

My name is Rebeccah and I am an Honors student in UABs Baccalaureate Nursing Program (http://www.uab.edu/nursing/student-information/acad-prog/honors-and-scholars-programs/nursing-honors-program).  As an Honors student I am participating in service-learning by partnering with a local community organization and collaborating on how to meet a need that they have but for whatever reason, be it a shortage of manpower, or time, or other, they may not be able to accomplish at the current time.  This need then becomes the student's project.  In order to get the word out about these wonderful agencies and the time we put in to working our various projects, we were asked to do a blog.  The agency that I have partnered with is Hand-In-Paw(http://www.handinpaw.org/).  Hand-In-Paw is an agency that is located in Birmingham and was founded in 1996.  The Hand-In-Paw volunteers visit over 50 different places including libraries, schools, nursing homes, hospitals, and more.  Sometimes one therapy team will visit and other times multiple teams will join forces.  Each individual team is made up of an animal and a handler.  Animals have the ability to facilitate a person's recovery by causing physiologic changes in the body by calming a person or just being a non-judgemental friend.  There's many benefits to an animal's presence.  Hand-In-Paw assists by making animals available to children, patients, elderly, and others who would benefit from animal visits.  Being involved in healthcare settings, there is always a concern about infection control measures and safety related to the animals, the patient/residents/children, and the handler.  My service learning project is to observe and evaluate measures taken in these areas.  This information is useful as a third party perspective.  By sharing my adventure of observing animals in action (so to speak) I hope you will be able to see the importance of our furry friends being included in the healing process for many individuals.  Enjoy! 

-Rebeccah M Pemberton