Facility Dog Peru Inspires Patients in Rehabilitation
At Adventist HealthCare Rehabilitation White Oak, patients work with compassionate clinicians and rehabilitation specialists as they recover from severe injuries and illnesses. But there is one key member of the team who can help patients in ways no human can – Peru, the golden retriever who serves as the inpatient rehab center’s facility dog.
“Peru helps form meaningful connections with people to get them better as quickly as possible,” said Heather Tropiano, PsyD, rehabilitation psychologist for Adventist HealthCare Rehabilitation and Peru’s handler. “Dogs aren’t just used to bring smiles to patients in a hospital. They can also serve as rehabilitation tools to help patients improve functioning and achieve greater levels of independence.”
Facility Dog vs. Therapy Dog
Both therapy dogs and facility dogs can bring emotional support to patients, but trainers teach facility dogs to do much more.
“A therapy dog is handled by a volunteer and provides comfort to patients,” Dr. Tropiano said. “A facility dog is expertly trained as a service dog and matched with a healthcare professional to work in a specific setting where they can use these skills to help patients recover.”
Facility dogs learn more than 40 commands, which handlers use to help patients with tasks such as pushing a button to summon an elevator, picking up dropped items, such as keys and pill bottles, and opening or closing drawers. They also learn how to help patients regain mobility and strength.
“Peru can play games like soccer, tap a balloon back and forth to a patient, and retrieve rings on command,” Dr. Tropiano said. “By doing these and other activities, she helps patients with standing, walking and using their affected limbs.”
Peru also helps patients manage pain and anxiety during their rehabilitation process.
“Patients will frequently be so in awe of what Peru can do with them in a treatment session that they comment on how they forgot about their pain or anxiety during a task,” Dr. Tropiano said.
Peru has a significant impact on patients’ mental health in other ways, as well. While some patients are hesitant to talk with a psychologist about how they are coping mentally and emotionally, Peru often makes them feel more comfortable just by resting her head in their lap.
“In an effortless way, Peru helps start very important conversations about adjusting to illness, a challenging diagnosis or a permanent change in function,” Dr. Tropiano said.
There are no studies detailing the impact that facility dogs have on patients. However, research does show
that therapy dogs can positively impact physiological biomarkers for stress, including heart rate, blood pressure and galvanic skin response, according to Dr. Tropiano, demonstrating the need for research specific to facility dogs. Dr. Tropiano is in the process of doing that work.
“Julie Robertson, DPT, and I have created a research study to investigate the impact Peru has on different aspects of patient performance during a physical therapy session,” she said. “We are looking at patients’ blood pressure levels, heart rates, perceived pain and exertion ratings, and time spent on tasks with and without Peru present.”
Peru’s Journey to Adventist HealthCare Rehabilitation
Becoming a facility dog takes work
Peru, who is 4 years old, was born in Santa Rosa, California, at Canine Companions, an organization that places service and therapy dogs with healthcare professionals and people with disabilities. When Peru was 8 weeks old, a volunteer in Virginia took her in to socialize her, help her adapt to hospital environments and teach her basic obedience skills. At 18 months old, Peru went to the Canine Companions professional training center in Long Island, New York, where she spent nine months in professional training. Peru was a star student.
“Many dogs don’t make it through the training,” Dr. Tropiano said. “In fact, in a litter of 13 puppies, Peru is one of only three that passed.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Tropiano, who served as a military psychologist for the United States Air Force before joining the Adventist HealthCare Rehabilitation team, applied to become a facility dog handler in 2018. After an extensive interview process, Canine Companions matched Dr. Tropiano with Peru in September 2020. Together, they help patients and their families understand and adjust to changes related to living with or recovering from injury or illness.
“Peru seamlessly and naturally acts as an extension of the work I do with patients,” Dr. Tropiano said. “She’s an active member of the rehabilitation team. She even has her own badge.”
Making an Impact
Peru accompanies Dr. Tropiano on daily patient visits, working with two to four patients daily. Every session makes a difference, but Peru’s impact is immeasurable for some patients.
“One patient had been in a terrible car accident and suffered polytrauma. She was in so much pain that it was hard for her to even sit at the edge of the bed without having a panic attack,” Dr. Tropiano said. “She loved animals, so we brought Peru in for pain and anxiety management.”
Peru’s presence helped the patient sit up for minutes at a time and then take her first steps while holding Peru’s leash.
“Peru helped the patient heal in a way the humans on her rehabilitation team were unable to,” Dr. Tropiano said. “The patient commented that if Peru wasn’t part of her team, she wouldn’t have overcome her anxiety and pain to become mobile again.”
Interested patients can work with Peru to help them through their recovery.
“Patients frequently express interest in working with her when they hear about her through our rehabilitation orientation or see her working with another patient on the unit,” Dr. Tropiano said. “For the most part, anyone on our unit can work with Peru toward a specific rehab goal.”
It is not all work and no play for Peru. Dr. Tropiano rewards her efforts with periods of rest and games of fetch throughout the day. When she’s not working, Peru enjoys time just being a dog.
“Peru loves to swim!” Dr. Tropiano said. “And she loves to play with any and every toy she can find. She also loves to snuggle.”
