The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) expressed optimism that together with the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), the pilot implementation of the ‘Angel Pets’ project would greatly enhance and expand the reach of animal-aided therapy in the Philippines.
Virginia Daniles, the head of the Sanctuary Center, said this during the first visit of the emotional-support ‘Doctor Dogs’ from PAWS on Saturday (December 7) in the DSWD-managed residential care facility in Mandaluyong City.
“Looking forward kami na ma-sustain kasi ngayon pa lang pilot implementation, nakita ko na agad ang effect sa mga residents natin from our Sanctuary. Yung smile, happiness, sana ma-sustain at ma-apply din natin sa ibang residential facilities dahil kahit meet-and-greet pa lang with the Doctor Dogs, engaged at uplifted na ang mood nila,” Center Head Daniles explained.
The DSWD-PAWS Angel Pets joint project is a heartwarming initiative centered on animal-assisted therapy. It aims to enhance the therapeutic services in select centers and residential care facilities (CRCFs) managed by the DSWD.
Following the first meet and greet of the Dr. Dogs with the young girls at the Marillac Hills – National School and Training for Girls (NSTG) last November 16, the visit to the adult-women from Sanctuary Center marked their second ‘duty’. The project was launched in October.
Center Head Daniles said she is elated to see that the Angel Pets project has materialized, as even a mood shift is a big thing for their clients who have been abandoned, neglected, or are living with psycho-social disabilities.
“Noong una, nung na-introduce po na magkakaroon ng ganitong partnership, of course ang una kong naisip as a center head is paano natin mage-gauge, kung mai-improve ba talaga ang conditions ng mga residents natin. But then, yung mood change pa lang, malaking bagay na,” Center Head Daniles pointed out.
Designed for healing
According to Center Head Daniles, the Angel Pets has three components designed to ensure that it will be a ‘high impact’ project even on its pilot implementation phase.
“Ang mga components natin, inaral at pinangunahan po yan ng ating DSWD sa pangunguna ng Social Technology Bureau (STB) dahil ang goal talaga, maging positibo yung epekto nito sa mga clients natin,” Center Head Daniles said.
The first component ALAGA, which stands for Adaptive Life Assistance Given by Animals, includes the deployment of PAWS Dr. Dogs to residential care facilities and the conduct of weekly animal-assisted therapy sessions for targeted clients.
The ARAL or Advocacy, Research and Learning component revolves around the development of materials for advocacy and education, along with offering hands-on workshops and online courses.
For the third component, the LUNAS SURI or Healing Assessment is focused on developing in-house assessment tools to monitor and evaluate therapy progress, gathering baseline and post-intervention scores, documenting client behavior and well-being in relation to the conducted therapy.
“Yung magiging resulta po ng weekly sessions, we ensure na well-accounted, hindi lang para magsilbing monitoring mechanism ng effect ng mga Dr. Dogs natin sa emotional well-being ng mga clients natin,” Center Head Daniles said.
“Looking forward din po tayo na maka-contribute to spotlight the therapeutic power ng mga pets natin, and how we can maximize on this sa iba pang facility ng DSWD and beyond,” the Sanctuary Center head added.
The PAWS also shared the DSWD’s optimism, citing the sessions conducted so far have served as significant strides toward highlighting the healing benefits of interactions with dogs.
“We are very happy na naging partner po namin ang DSWD for a long term dahil ito po talaga ang hinahanap ng ating Dr. Dogs volunteers. This is what they signed for na talagang they regularly visit, and mae-evaluate din natin yung effectiveness ng ating Dr. Dogs program,” Sharon Yap said, the PAWS Community Education Officer.
While the animal-assisted therapy in the country has been led by the PAWS’ Dr. Dogs for 20 years, both the PAWS and the DSWD are hopeful that the result of the pilot implementation will contribute in raising the efficiency of the cutting-edge approach. (LSJ)
