COLUMBUS, OH (MARION COUNTY NOW)– Nationwide Children’s Hospital announced today Butterfly Paws, an expanded program that aims to facilitate healing, support emotional and mental wellbeing and contribute to best outcomes for patients, families and staff. To celebrate Butterfly PAWS, the hospital unveiled “Canine Corner,” a special area on the first floor of the hospital featuring seating for families during their visit, animal friends Gus and Junebug and a digital display dedicated to highlighting pups and patients alike.
“Research shows that spending just five minutes with a dog can lower cortisol and stress. Especially in a hospital setting, we know that affects everyone. We are thrilled to be impacting the culture of our hospital and supporting emotional wellbeing in our patients, families and staff,” said Melissa McMillen, CTRS, program manager of the Butterfly Paws program at Nationwide Children’s. “Since we started working with our first dog in 2006, our facility dogs and their clinical therapist-handlers have helped countless patients and their families, from providing motivation in physical therapy and aiding in the development of fine motor skills, to improving assertive communication and self-esteem. We look forward to all the milestones still to come.”
Currently, Nationwide Children’s hosts 10 facility and therapy dogs on campus. Through the expansion of the Butterfly Paws program, the hospital ultimately will expand to a team of 10 facility dogs and 70 therapy dogs, along with a larger team of community and staff volunteers with certified pups. These specially-trained facility and therapy dogs help bring comfort, joy and therapeutic support interventions to patients, families and staff.
Nationwide Children’s partners with Canine Companions. Canine Companions has placed black Labrador Retriever, Hud II, and Golden Retriever, Beck and Yellow Labrador, Boltz, for their facility dog jobs. Since 1975, Canine Companions has placed more than 7,800 service dogs, training them specifically to assist adults, children and veterans with disabilities.
“Our dogs can often provide more support and opportunities for therapists to reach our patients in ways we can’t during a typical therapy session,” said Rochelle Krouse, CTRS, recreational therapist at Nationwide Children’s and handler of facility dog, Beck. “We are eager to collaborate with our community to increase access to this important kind of care and continue to foster the bond between people and dogs.
Eight-year-old Macie Taylor, diagnosed with cerebral palsy (CP), underwent selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) surgery this year to address spasticity related to her CP. Following her surgery, Macie worked with Beck on the inpatient rehabilitation unit to improve her mobility.
“Macie had to learn to do basic tasks again, and once we found out there was a dog, she couldn’t wait to start rehab,” said Michele Taylor, patient Macie’s mom. “When she was throwing the ball with Beck and walking around the unit with him, she was doing therapy at the same time. Everything she accomplished before she got discharged was beyond my expectations. Being able to have Beck every day brought a little bit of home here.”
Learn more about Butterfly Paws and Macie’s story.
Donate to the Butterfly Paws program here.