Five Bright Spot Teams spoke to a group of about 50 seniors who live at the American Inn Retirement Living in Southwick, Massachusetts. The Inn is an independent living facility for folks ages 55+. Volunteers Nancy Blow with her Newfoundland Gus, Ned Polan with his Golden Retriever Brinkley, Matthew Owen with his French Bulldog Teagan, and Bright Spot Board member Patti Tibbetts with her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Velvet, each spoke about their visiting experiences. My therapy dog James accompanied me for the talk.
Nancy spoke about her trip to Newtown, CT. Nancy and Gus stayed in Newtown for two days helping folks in anyway they could cope with the tragedy of December 14, 2012. She had made a small photo album of her time there and brought it with her today to share with the group. Ned spoke about his visiting experiences in two mental health facilities, one senior center, and 2 juvenile facilities in Westfield, MA. Patti shared the experiences she and Velvet have had visiting patients at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, MA. And, Matthew spoke about visiting soldiers with PTSD at the VA Hospital in Leeds, MA.
I shared some of the experiences James has had visiting during his seven-year therapy dog career. He has visited with Alzheimer’s patients, folks on hospice care, in mental health units, and nursing homes. Now retired from healthcare visiting, James participates in the Bright Spot Reading Buddies Program at the Westhampton Elementary School where children read to him one-on-one in a relaxed, non-threatening environmnet.
Many of the folks in attendance today have their own dogs. Some expressed interest in getting their dogs certified as Bright Spot therapy dogs. Everyone took a copy of our annual Bright Spot publication to read more about the meaningful work our therapy dogs do throughout western Massachusetts and beyond. Some, wanting to support our work, asked about making a donation to Bright Spot.
We enjoy giving talks to community groups of all types that want to learn more about therapy dogs – a subject that continues to receive growing interest as Animal Assisted Therapy becomes more widely recognized as an effective form of treatment in a myriad of healthcare and educational settings.