Must Love Dogs: how dogs help patients in therapy settings December 09, 2011 Editor@montanaliving.com
By Dave Reese Montana Health Journal
Maggie is not your ordinary therapist. But at just over two feet tall with blonde hair and a long, wagging tail, Maggie is quite popular with the residents of Immanuel Lutheran Home in Kalispell. Maggie, a yellow labrador, is a certified therapy dog used for a variety of therapy settings at the retirement home. Working with occupational therapist Cara Sargent, Maggie helps people in a variety of settings, from speech therapy to cognitive and physical therapy. The Immanual Lutheran Community’s Rehab to Home program helps people after hospitalization from an injury, illness or accident. The rehab to home program helps people gain strength and ability to return home. Sargent and the staff at Immanuel Lutheran Communities evaluate which residents might benefit from working with a therapy dog. But the biggest requirement of working with Maggie, or her litter mate Zoey, is that the residents must love dogs. Then, Sargent sets up the patient’s goals for animal assisted therapy. From brushing the dog, to throwing balls for it, the client gets many benefits of animal assisted therapy. In speech therapy they can use the dog in ways such as identifying parts of the dog or giving simple commands. Residents who work with the therapy dogs often benefit from improved range of motion, strength, and balance, Sargent said. “And it’s very uplifting for them psychologically,” she said. “The dog is another modality of therapy. Instead of using weights, a bicycle or a treadmill, you use a dog,” she said. “We’ve had residents, maybe they’ve had a stroke, and it’s hard to get them to initiate tasks. We can take the dog in and they’re smiling, reaching out to them. It can be very satisfying for them. “We had one resident who was severely impaired and we couldn’t get her to open up and participate. We brought Maggie in, and the woman had a huge smile on her face and was reaching out to Maggie.” “We couldn’t get her to do anything, but Maggie did,” Sargent said. Sargent has been working at the Immanuel Lutheran Communities over eight years, and so have her dogs, ever since they were puppies. “Our dogs love coming in too, because they get lots of attention,” she said. Sargent and her two dogs are trained in animal assisted therapy, and now enjoys her two passions — people and animals. “I love my dogs, so it was very exciting for me to be able to combine my dogs with my profession,” Sargent said. “I get to be with my dogs and help people.”
Kristin Nygren knows from experience how much a dog can help soothe and calm a person with an illness. While going through cancer treatments four years ago, it was her dog that helped give her perspective and comfort. “I love them so much and when I was going through chemo, my dog really helped me,” she said. “After a bad chemo session everything really kind of clicked with my dog. It really really helped.” Now Nygren and Ajax, her Pembroke Welsh Corgi, visit with patients at North Valley Hospital as a way of helping others. “It’s total satisfaction. He likes it, and to help somebody is what it’s about,” Nygren said. Ajax and Nygren are certified by Therapy Dogs Inc. They visited hospitals and assisted-living facilities for three days during their training. “He’s the kind of dog that is people oriented,” Nygren said. “He seems to know when people are not feeling well and he likes to be there for comfort.” Nygren did not have a program like this when she was going through cancer treatment, but had dogs at home, “which helped a lot,” she said. “That just triggered the idea to go ahead and do it.” The duo now has been visiting people with illnesses for three years. “It’s been amazing,” Nygren said. “Some people notice a difference in their blood pressure. One person, who had not spoken for three days, started talking to him.” It seems Nygren benefits from sharing her dog with others, too. “I get tremendous satisfaction out of it,” she said. “As a cancer survivor it’s a way of giving back. When someone lights up, it just makes me feel so good. It’s a fulfillment, a wonderful satisfaction.”
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOUT ANIMAL ASSISTED THERAPY HERE: WATCH THE VIDEO ABOUT ANIMAL ASSISTED THERAPY HERE:
