Post by Ione Maria Rojas

I am thrilled and excited to have been awarded a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship 2015 to research international animal-assisted therapy projects.

The Trust awards fellowships every year to British Citizens to enable them to travel abroad and research areas of interest that can help us tackle current social issues back here in the UK. It is an honour and a joy to have been awarded a fellowship this year, the 50th anniversary of Churchill’s death, and with the US stage of my trip only weeks away, my excitement is growing every day…

Read on to find out details of my research proposal and for regular updates follow @WeAreFurryTales and keep checking our news page.

Fellowship Title: ELDERS’ CARE AND ANIMALS: DEVELOPING A SUSTAINABLE MODEL FOR CHANGE

OBJECTIVES

1. To gain a deeper understanding of how animals can be incorporated into residential care to improve quality of life
2. To learn how well-established and successful animal-assisted programmes select and train their animals
3. To understand essential criteria for volunteer training programmes for animal-assisted therapy work
4. To use the above to improve and expand the delivery of animal-assisted activities by Furry Tales in London
5. To establish Furry Tales as a platform in London for sharing knowledge and experience of animal-assisted interactions with other providers and interested parties

SCHEDULE
STAGE 1: APRIL-MAY 2015, USA

• Human-Animal Interaction Conference 2015
• Green Chimneys, New York – Helping Kids with Emotional, Behavioural and Social Challenges
• Animal Assisted Therapy Services, Connecticut
• Soul Friends, Connecticut – Key players in the passing of the 2013 Animal-Assisted Therapy Bill
• Tails of Joy, Connecticut – Pet visitation programme, also involved in the AAT Bill
• Life Care Centre of Nashoba Valley, Massachusetts – Residential home with a llama visitation programme
• Friendship Works, Massachusetts – Boston-based project using animals to combat social isolation in elders
• Briarwood Residential Home and Rehabilitation Centre, Massachusetts – Registered Eden Alternative home
• Pets for Life, Missouri – Part of an ongoing study with ReCHAI on pet visitation programmes
• ReCHAI, Missouri – Research Center for Human-Animal Interactions – Visits arranged at connected prison dog training program, therapeutic hoseback riding study with military veterans, and AAA visit and pet ownership facilitation program at TigerPlace retirement residence
• Atlantic Health Systems, New Jersey – Health care system with a strong commitment to AAT

STAGE 2: OCTOBER 2015, ISRAEL

Exact schedule tbc

• Daphna-Golan Shemesh, Tel-Aviv – Pioneer in developing world’s first dementia dogs and introducing animals into residential elders’ care
• Dr Yoni Yehuda, Jerusalem – PhD in Psychology, AAT expert and Founder of Havayot Center

If you have any questions about my trip or any of the places I’m visiting, please use the Contact page.

On 28th February 2015 we came to the end of our 6 month NHS social prescriptions pilot. Funded by NHS Tower Hamlets CCG, we worked with 5 GP surgeries, 3 care homes and 2 day care centres to deliver 16 therapeutic animal-handling and nature-based sessions to 86 Tower Hamlets’ residents aged 60+, exceeding our target by over 50%.

The project was a real success and we have learnt much from running it, which we are now keen to put to use developing the next stages of Furry Tales.

To find out about more about the project’s achievements, outcomes and lessons learned, read our final report and let us know what you think!

NHS Tower Hamlets CCG Final Report

Over the past few months, Furry Tales’ NHS Tower Hamlets CCG funded social prescriptions project has attracted a lot of attention from the media. In case you missed any of it, find out what we’ve been up to in the links below…

The Guardian: Why GPs are prescribing animal handling sessions for older people – Anita Pati

Pulse: GPs refer vulnerable elderly to handle furry animals – Caroline Price

The Wharf: Ione hatches plan for animal magic – Rachel Bishop

With over 2 sessions a month delivered to a total of 330 people aged 60+, we are very pleased with what the Merchant Taylors CCI grant has allowed us to achieve.

Read more about the project’s outcomes, significant achievements and lessons learnt in our final report:
MERCHANT TAYLORS FINAL REPORT

We were one of the five lucky projects to be awarded an Innovation Bursary grant from NHS Tower Hamlets Clinical Commissioning Group. Starting September 2014, this 6 month fund will allow us to pilot a social prescriptions scheme for local elders, receiving referrals from local GP surgeries and day care centres and delivering outreach sessions to nearby residential homes.

GPs from the Bromley-by-Bow Health Partnership and local day care centres will be encouraged to refer patients or members aged 60+ who they feel may be suffering from loneliness, isolation or depression. Referrals will be invited to Furry Tales sessions at Stepney City Farm, where they can enjoy getting to know a variety of animals and people. We will also be engaging two new residential homes, Pat Shaw House and Peter Shore Court, taking our team of volunteers and animals to build essential relationships with local elders.

We are delighted to feature in the Guardian’s online healthcare network, read all about it!