Thank You from Lynne
PAWS and I want to thank everyone for the great pictures and the wonderful good wishes to celebrate PAWS' 11th anniversary.
I appreciate the time it took you to "join" the party and send your thoughts and photos.
Happy Anniversary to PAWS and here's to about 111 more years for PAWS' pet therapy.
Lynne Robinson
Executive Director
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Upcoming Events
February
20 - PAWS Conference & Annual Meeting
Nemours/AI duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, DE
22-26 - I Love Reading Days
Tatnall School, Wilmington, DE
25 - Brader Literacy Night
Brader Elementary School
Newark, DE
27 - Concord Pet - Red Mill
Newark, DE
March
4-10 - Barnes & Noble Bookfair CHRISTIANA MALL,
Newark, DE
8 & 9 - Barnes & Noble Bookfair CONCORD MALL,
Wilmington, DE
12 - Concord Pet
Logan Township, NJ
15 - Delaware Cares Family Partners
Dover, DE
Click here to see all upcoming events and to sign up!
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PS PAWS
Part 2: Wednesday 2/24
6:30 PM
Thinking Outside the Box
This course trains our teams for out Dementia Program so that they are better able to understand dementia and Alzheimer's and recognize behaviors while also guiding teams on how to provide the best visit possible to someone following this path.
Creative Connections
Sometimes petting and brushing your dog isn't enough during a visit. Working for prolonged periods of time with kids or elders sometimes calls for you to have a few extra "tricks up your sleeve." We have created a fun, hour-long class that will give you scads of ideas on easy, simple activities you can incorporate into your visits.
Save the Date
April 13 - Nemours Prep
April 27 - First Visit Assistant
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Sites to Celebrate
We would like to thank all of the sites we visit for supporting PAWS and Pet Therapy! Here are just two of the sites we are proud to celebrate.
BeeBe Healthcare
Beebe Healthcare became a PAWS partner in the fall of 2014, focusing healing pet-therapy visits in waiting areas throughout the hospital. In January, we expanded to the 3rd floor and now PAWS Pet-Therapy Teams are visiting patients in their rooms. We are grateful to the folks at Beebe who help promote PAWS and Pet Therapy each and every day.
The Summit
The Summit Retirement Community, a stunningly beautiful assisted living/memory care facility in Pike Creek, partnered with PAWS in the fall of 2015. In addition to welcoming our pet therapy teams (and they're hoping for more), they have opened their event space to us for training. An extremely welcoming community, The Summit provides volunteers with informational binders regarding their residents to help enhance the quality of the pet therapy visits.
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PAWS needs some things!
out our Wish List.
- Stickers for children
- Dog treats
- Small toys/prizes for the Easter Bone Hunt
- Mini bottles of hand sanitizer
- Graph paper
Dog Collars
Do you have any g
ently used or new flat dog collars that you no longer need?
We occasionally have potential teams arrive at training without the type of collar required for the STEX test. All sizes (teacup poodle to mastiff) are needed.
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Please contact Wendy with questions, feedback, suggestions, stories, and pictures!
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Consumer Experience Has Gone to the Dogs
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 Dr. Paul Rosen posted a great article on HealthcareSucess.com a few days ago. Click here to read the entire piece.
"...Many hospitals have pet therapy for inpatients. Pet therapy teams consist of a trained animal (typically a dog, but could be a bunny, or miniature horse, or other critter) and a handler. They visit patients to help alleviate suffering by decreasing anxiety, offering comfort, distraction, and providing a feeling of well being. Pet therapy also has a physiologic impact by reducing heart rate, blood pressure and stress levels.
"At our hospital-
Nemours Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children-clinical teams made a plan to break outside of the typical pet therapy offering and experiment in some new areas. Nurses, doctors, phlebotomists and technicians welcomed dogs in multiple areas where you don't typically find pet therapy teams.
"We worked with our pet therapy partner,
PAWS for People, who helped with the effort. Here is what we found:
- In the outpatient lab, the children helped walk the dog into the lab for blood work. The pet therapy team not only reduced anxiety for the child in the waiting room, but also facilitated the child entering the lab, and sitting on the table. We often had the child hold the dog on her lap during the blood draw so she could pet the dog while getting the needle. Parents reported that it was the first time they did not have to hold their child down or hear them cry during blood work.
- In the MRI suite, the dogs and their handlers distracted children during their IV placements and reduced anxiety associated with getting an MRI.
- In the pre-op area, dogs facilitated nervous children entering the pre-op rooms. The dogs then visited with anxious parents in the waiting room while their children were in surgery.
- In the rehabilitation gym, dogs encouraged children with disabilities to do their exercises and made rehab more fun.
"Pet therapy has not won everyone over in healthcare. Some physicians-from allergy and infectious disease-have voiced concerns. However, our pet therapy teams use standard procedures to decrease the risk of a problem.
"Our experience has been overwhelmingly positive. Not only have the children and parents benefited, but our staff enjoys interacting with the dogs as well. Our young patients' smiles have confirmed that our pet therapy teams are making the hospital experience less scary."
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| PAWS' Conference: On-Line Registration Closes Tomorrow! |
Register online
(which closes at midnight on February 17th) and receive a special $5 coupon good on selected PAWSWear on the day of the conference.
Don't miss this opportunity to hear Internally renowned speaker, Dr. James Serpell, share his amazing research on the human-animal bond.
The day also includes 4 workshop sessions, lunch, vendors and the PAWS for Art show.
Workshops are filling up, so please register in advance to secure your spot!
Saturday, February 20th
8:30 AM - 3:30 PM
Same Day Registration opens at 8:30 AM
Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children
1600 Rockland Road, Wilmington, DE 19803
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March 19th, 1:00-3:00 PM
Skyline United Methodist Church
3100 Skyline Drive, Wilmington, DE 19808
Everyone is welcome - individuals, families, friends, and anyone who loves their dog and wants to have some fun!
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Christiana Mall Location
March 4-10
Concord Mall Location
March 8 & 9
Online
March 4-15
Use Bookfair ID #11758109 at checkout
Click here for the event flyer
Voucher may be used at both locations.
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Stephanie Vatty & Thor
This team visits at the Cecil County Health Department in drug & alcohol rehab group settings. As an associate at Nemours, Stephanie committed to begin volunteering there with Thor in the evenings, and they has their first pet therapy visit in the Emergency Department a few weeks ago. Their energy as a team is contagious!
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Cate Kastriner & Wilma
This new (3-month old!) team is helping PAWS establish our presence at The Summit, an assisted living and alzheimer's care facility in Pike Creek, DE. Recently certified in reading, Cate & Wilma also began filling in at the Claymont Library this month. Here they are at Spicer-Mullikin's Hope for the Holidays event days after they joined!
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PAWS Partners
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