A non-profit organization founded in 1985, we offer pet-assisted therapy to residents of nursing homes, assisted living homes, special needs facilities, half-way houses, and some children's facilities as well as attendees at senior daycare centers and the patients of various hospitals in Eastern Massachusetts.Our volunteers share their pets in visits 45 minutes to an hour long at a time mutually agreed upon by the volunteer and the activities director of the site visited. Covering Eastern Massachusetts from Worcester east to the ocean and from Falmouth north to several facilities in New Hampshire and Maine, we usually make visits as individuals rather than visit a facility in groups.

The Pets & People Foundation has never charged for our visits nor asked volunteers for membership fees. Yet we cover all of our volunteers with a $2,000,000 insurance policy-which we have never had to use because we do such a good job of screening all pets in our program. Thus, each volunteer is asked to be involved in a five step program before they settle into any site as a regular visitor.

1. Prospective volunteers are asked to shadow an experienced volunteer through a nursing home so that s/he can understand the relationships which s/he is apt to experience in making his/her own visits later on.

2. Each dog is then screened by an experienced dog trainer to see if the animal is suitable for our program. A seminar on pet visitations is given at this time. Copies of the dog or cat's rabies and health certificates must be filed with the volunteer coordinator. The owner must exhibit control over the dog and the dog must seem to relate well to both people and other dogs.

3. The volunteer is asked to select one to three facilities within ten to fifteen minutes drive of his/her home that s/he might like to visit.

4. The Pets & People program coordinator then calls the facility selected to make an appointment for the volunteer's first visit.

5. Finally, a member of the board, the volunteer, and pet meet with the Activities Director on the volunteer's first visit and make arrangements for the times, dates, and number/month of future volunteer visits.  Both the volunteer and the Activities Director are encouraged to call the coordinator at any future time with questions or suggestions.

 

 

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