Animal Assisted Therapy in Senior Living – From Start to Success

Animal assisted programs are becoming more popular within senior living. With this type of program growing, there is a need for life enrichment professionals to learn about implementing this valuable tool.  Come learn about how to establish your own facility dog program in this interactive session.  Presenters will talk about lessons learned from their experience establishing a facility dog program.  The University Wisconsin – La Crosse (UWL) recently became the first university in the state to acquire and utilize a facility dog within their allied health professional programs—including recreational therapy.

This session aims to inform others about how a facility dog can be acquired for use in life enrichment as well as educational settings. The process, including the timeline and procedures, required training, and learned experiences will be outlined.Dr. Wags, the name of the facility dog program at UWL, is included in courses and programs to provide students with insight of how service dogs can be beneficial in senior living settings. Some of the benefits of a facility dog include increased motivation, stress reduction, problem solving, and participation.  Presenters will also provide a demonstration of robotic animals for use in senior living.  We hope to inspire other senior living communities to consider a facility dog in their settings.

• Identify three lessons learned about establishing facility dog programs in senior living settings
• Verbalize two robotic animal sessions for use in senior living
• State two client outcomes and benefits of utilizing facility dogs in recreational therapy settings