Several times a month you can hear oohs, ahhs and soft cooing coming from Camarillo Health Care District’s Adult Day Center as fluffy tales wag and gazes meet. These are the days VIP Dog Teams and Love on a Leash, Pleasant Valley Chapter, pay a visit through their Community Meet-and-Greet Programs. These therapy dogs are trained to interact with people and their surroundings under the guidance of their owners.
Romeo Roadshow – with miniature horses Romeo and Ziggy – also make regular visits, spreading love, kindness and joy. Romeo is affectionate, sweet and caring while Ziggy is described by their handlers as a rebel but smart and quick to learn new tricks. Both are patient and obedient – and always on their best behavior at public outings.
Then there’s The Little Zoo, featuring Merigold, a citrus-bearded dragon; Topaz, a blue-tongued skink; Poppy, a lionhead bunny; and Pippin, a red-footed tortoise. This menagerie provides sensory and cognitive stimulation – and delight – as clients learn about the animals as the creatures are escorted around for gentle petting.
Animals speak to us with their eyes, through vocalizations, a wag of the tail, a nudge with their nose, a thump of their foot, a warm lick across our hands or by lightly brushing against our legs. Communication is a two-way street as animals pick up on our tone of voice and body language.
Animal-assisted activities like those in the District’s Adult Day Center (ADC) provide motivation and learning to help people enjoy a better quality of life. Animals have a unique way of connecting with us emotionally. They reduce feelings of loneliness, boost mood, keep the brain sharp and provide emotional support. Researchers say interacting with animals can stimulate the release of hormones like oxytocin, known as the “love hormone,” fostering a sense of calm and happiness.
Communicating with animals and having them among us encourages interactions and builds a sense of community. In our personal lives, they can serve as non-judgmental friends who listen, comfort and reduce anxiety. They can enhance self-esteem and reduce feelings of isolation, common issues that can arise with aging. Our connections with animals lift our spirits and improve our mental health.
“Animal therapy is a uniquely valuable offering for all who attends our Center,” said ADC Director Mary Ann Ratto. “Our animal visits provide an inclusive experience that welcomes individuals who are non-verbal, have limited mobility, and/or visual or hearing impairments. Participants engage through touch and enjoy comforting snuggles with the animals. This interaction fosters a sense of calm, connection, and contentment among our participants.”
The Center also offers robotic pets, including a cat, kitten and dog, for participants to enjoy when live animal visits are not available. “We’ve observed similar positive effects with these robotic companions, as participants often experience the same sense of comfort and engagement as they do with live animals,” Mary Ann said.
The concept of integrating animals into senior settings, like the Adult Day Center, is rooted in the understanding of animal-assisted therapy’s psychological benefits. Facilities that offer unique experiences with animals ensure that a variety of interactions are provided, catering to different preferences and needs.
Animal enrichment programs enhance well-being of both seniors and animals. Interacting with animals can also stimulate cognitive functions. The mental engagement involved in observing animals’ behavior and engaging with animals can trigger neurological responses that sharpen mental faculties, particularly important in preventing cognitive decline. Studies show that for older adults with degenerative conditions, like dementia, these interactions can slow down the progression of symptoms. Studies have also shown that interacting with pets can stimulate memories of animal caretaking activities, helping increase cognition.
Additionally, studies have highlighted how repetitive engagement with animals in our lives supports memory retention, enhancing our ability to solve problems and develop new learning skills. This repeated neurological engagement can maintain mental agility and stave off age-related degeneration.
Most people have had emotional connections with animals during their lives. Providing affection or non-verbal communication with an animal can bring a sense of serenity and self-confidence that reduces anxiety and stress, stimulates social interaction and conversations, and provides opportunities for nurturing and play. These interactions can distract us from our problems, challenges and limitations while amusing and entertaining us. Benefits also include reducing blood pressure and improving cardiovascular health, and releasing endorphins, which produces a calming effect and help alleviate pain.
The human-animal connection can be transformative. If you are open to it, animals can serve as our teachers, healers, angels and guides. We can build trust and connection with them through our heart-to-heart and mind-to-mind communication.
The District’s licensed Adult Day Center provides safe, respectful, and compassionate option for adults who benefit from additional care during the day due to health conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, brain injury, decreasing mobility, isolation or loneliness.
Our Adult Day Center is the only one of its kind in the Camarillo area and receives clients from throughout Ventura County. In 2014, the Center was expanded and redesigned with a person-centered focus and to reflect a home-like environment, with an open-concept living room, kitchen and dining area, game rooms, indoor gardening beds, gathering space with a piano for entertaining, and a special quiet space. In 2015, it received “Innovative Program of the Year” throughout the state of California from the California Special Districts Association.
The Center is a social model that focuses on providing socialization, mental and physical activities that can be enjoyable for everyone – and this is where animal-assisted interactions come into play.
“The Center touches so many lives on a daily basis and we see that in action each time families refer other families to the Center,” Adult Day Program Director Mary Ann Ratto said. “It’s very heartwarming to hear families speak of the Center as ‘the greatest blessing’ and ‘so wonderful’.”
And if we ask our animal friends, they likely will agree by sharing a knowing glance, blink of the eyelids or raised paw!
Michelle Rogers is Community Services manager at the Camarillo Health Care District. She can be reached at micheller@camhealth.com or 805-388-1952, ext. 116.