Pet Therapy program offers comfort and healing
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For six years, Maya was a regular source of comfort, care and companionship at Backus Hospital.
With her kind, intuitive eyes that seemed to look straight into a person's heart, and her gentle nature, she was always a welcome visitor to inpatients, visitors and staff.
A 1,000-hour Backus Volunteer and one of the first members of the Backus Therapeutic Pet Visiting Team,Maya, a yellow Labrador retriever, spent Tuesday nights visiting patients to offer comfort and healing in her unique way.
Now in its eighth year at Backus, the Therapeutic Pet program is part of the hospital's Center for Healthcare Integration (CHI), offering mind/body healing to patients along with other complementary therapies like Healing Touch, massage and Reiki.
Since the program's inception in 2002, more than 3,000 patients have been visited by pet therapy teams, said Amy Dunion, a nurse and Coordinator of CHI.
"Even as an 8-week-old puppy, Maya exhibited a gift for loving people and wanting to reach out and communicate with them," said Barbara Cambria,Maya's owner, trainer and handler.
"Maya always knew what she had to do in the therapeutic setting," saidMs. Cambria. "I learned to trust her healing energy and intuition and say, ‘whom shall we visit first?' She knew her job and walked confidently to sit down in their presence."
"She laced her visits with gentleness and had a true, unique keen sense of ability to connect," said Ms. Cambria.
Sometimes it was by offering a withdrawn patient her soft fur for stroking or by entertaining in an animated and playful manner. Other times the visit began with Maya first offering herself to a patient's family member whom she sensed was in need of extra comfort.
Maya's last visit to Backus took place during the annual Cancer Survivor's Day in October, where her very first oncology patient from 2002 found her for a reunion. It was a fitting last day for Maya, also a cancer survivor.
Maya passed away in December at the age of 13. Only one team of the original eight is still active today. New teams are being mentored at the hospital to join the program, which is in need of new recruits.
The patient need is there. Right now, enough registered and experienced therapy dogs aren't," saidMs. Cambria, who continues to serve as program facilitator through Volunteer Services.
Any breed of dog may be trained for therapeutic pet work. Success is usually dependent upon the individual animal's qualities-the pet should like people, be controllable, reliable and predictable, and have confidence when visiting strange places.
Handlers must demonstrate their ability to know their dog and work respectfully as a team with patients in the clinical setting. Dogs need to be seasoned and highly competent for the hospital environment, which is unique in its different smells and noises and filled with patients who are often very ill.
"It takes two to three years to adequately prepare a dog skilled for hospital visits," said Ms. Cambria.
To become a therapeutic pet team, the dog and its handler should begin with a Canine Good Citizenship class for basic obedience training and then become tested and registered with The Delta Society or another recognized national agency. Therapy training typically begins in predictable, quiet places or controlled educational settings.
Ms. Cambria, who recently introduced her dog, Bella, to the hospital for pet therapy visits, is preparing another puppy for future work.
"It's an honor to help facilitate human/animal interactions that encourage and improve the well-being of others," she said.
The idea of using animals to work with people to heal in the healthcare setting is what drewMary Bylone, a nurse and Assistant Vice President of Patient Care Services at Backus, to learn more about pet therapy.
Research on dog breeds for temperament and obedience led her to settle on a Newfoundland, whom she acquired with the intent of grooming for visiting hospital inpatients.
Scarlet, 5 1/2 months, has completed puppy kindergarten and moved on to the next training level. "We're planning to pursue the Canine Good Citizen classes and eventually want to start visiting schools and libraries," said Ms. Bylone.
"Pet therapy allows us to match our love for animals with our love for taking care of patients," she said.