Spain Rehabilitation Center

Hi guys,

I have not forgotten about you, although it may seem as if I haven't posted a blog in forever. I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

So...this week, I was able to go to the Spain Rehabilitation Center. Wow! So much to tell! This was a slightly different atmosphere than what I had been used to, but very enjoyable nonetheless. The therapy team that I was with was Cindy and her dog Sally (picture below). Yet again, another wonderful Hand In Paw therapy team. We visited two gyms within the facility (the East and West Rehab Gym). Sally's role at each visit is variable. Sometimes Sally is involved in therapy with the patients and other times she simply visits with them, which leads to multiple accounts of patients telling stories about their own pets or past pets. As Sally interacted with the patients, I saw that for that particular moment, it allowed the patients to escape to somewhat of another world...a comfortable, familiar world without obstacles or pain.

Luckily, I was able to watch Sally involved in an actual therapy. Sally was placed on a table on top of a white sheet and the patient stood up from the wheelchair, walked toward Sally, and began petting her. The patient's wife really enjoyed watching her husband. You could look in her face and tell that she was extremely happy and proud, and also took pictures of him while the therapy was taking place. This is a prime example of how animal-assisted therapy not only affects the patients, but also their families. Not to mention, the nursing staff LOVES Sally. She lightened the mood, put smiles on their faces, and they also began to relate to their own pets. One nurse specifically recounts a time when he was three years old and had fallen in a lake. Someone's dog alerted his owner that something wasn't right, and the owner was able to get to him just in time. Because of this dog's heroic gestures, the nurse's life was spared. Sally makes a way for the nurses to momentarily find an escape, as well.

On another note, this was my first time observing animal-assisted therapy in speech therapy patients. Before Sally interacted with the them, they had been relatively quiet. However, once they began petting Sally, the patients began talking more and opening up! The powers of our little furry friends over the human condition is incredible!

When time was up at Spain Rehab, we walked over to UAB hospital because a patient had put in a special request for an animal-assisted therapy visit. He had said that when he was in the nursing home, he really enjoyed the visits from the animals and would like to continue the trend. Oh boy, how happy he was to see Sally!! I think he would have kept  her for himself had he been given the chance.  It was evident in his eyes that Sally's visit made his day.

At both the Spain Rehab and UAB hospital, infection control measures were strictly enforced, and they all had been followed perfectly. Cindy made sure that the patients were administered hand sanitizer before and after visits, and sheets were placed for Sally to lay on in appropriate situations. Sally was clean and properly groomed, nails trimmed, etc. Cindy says that her strength in regards to infection control is making sure that Sally is properly groomed and clean, adding that she wipes her down following each visit. Interestingly, Hand In Paw did not always use hand sanitizer before visits, but only after visits. When the "before rule" was put into place, Cindy remembers feeling a little embarrassed to ask the patients to use hand sanitizer because she did not want to insult them in any way, which is completely understandable. However, she said when you look at the big picture, sanitizing hands is very important in the prevention of infection. So she simply tells the patients that it is part of policy to sanitize hands before and after visits alleviating a lot of the embarrassment. Although Cindy feels as if she is pretty conscious about her infection control measures, she would still be willing to go to a focus-based class if developed.

I know this was a lot of information, but it was such a nice visit with many relevant things to my project. If you read the entire post (which I really hope you did) you are a trooper, and I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy day to read it! All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the Spain Rehab Center with Cindy and Sally. Cindy is a great handler, and Sally is a great dog.

Quoted verbatim by one of the patients regarding Sally: "She has a face that says I can make anyone feel better." That pretty much sums it up...

Cindy and Sally

Quote from Spain Rehab Center