It was my pleasure to be the guest speaker Friday morning for Coffee and Chat with Quan.
Quan Brewington is the Community Liason for Caregiver Homes of western Massachusetts. The subject of my chat was The Magic of Pet Therapy and Pet Ownership.
Caregiver Homes is an Adult Family Care or Adult Foster Care Program.
It is an NCQA accredited MassHealth program for age 16 or older who cannot safely live alone due to medical, physical, cognitive or behavioral health difficulties. Caregiver Homes provides bi-monthly stipend to live-in caregivers. They support the family through a professional team (Registered Nurse and Case Manager) to support the caregiver in the home, as they’re caring for their loved ones. They currently have a little over 700 families in western Massachusetts that they support.
One aspect of Quan’s multifaceted role as a Community Liaison with Caregiver Homes is to engage with other community agencies and help connect her case managers and nurses to resources so that they in turn can help families that need assistance.
My therapy dog TEACH sat by my side during the webinar
In thinking of ways to reach out to the people she works with, Quan decided to start holding a monthly mini webinar on a topic of interest to heath care workers. She gave the webinar series the catchy name of Coffee and Chat with Quan. She wanted to launch her new Friday morning series with an uplifting topic. My name came up in topic discussions. I happily accepted. What more uplifting topic to discuss than the happiness dogs bring into to the lives of those they interact with.
With my twenty-nine years of experience living and working with therapy dogs, I had plenty to talk about.
Nine of my dogs have been Bright Spot Therapy Dogs and together we have made over 30,000 visits to assisted living facilities, Alzheimer’s units, mental health facilities, and hospice care, preschools, elementary schools, colleges, libraries, and an airport. Wherever a therapy dog goes, he or she offers unconditional love and companionship. With every single visit I have made with one of my therapy dogs, I have left knowing that I have made at least one person feel happier, less lonely, and comforted. There is no greater joy than watching one of my dogs work his or her magic as I stand at the other end of the leash.
Quan is an excellent interviewer and the time flew by too quickly. It was such an enjoyable experience participating in Coffee and Chat with Quan. I wish her much success with her webinar series.