Volunteers Bring the Community Inside the Hospital

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Volunteers who support Concord Hospital’s charitable activities come in all shapes and sizes. Some come on four legs and love to give kisses.

Meet Jake, a Boykin Spaniel who is a member of the Hospital’s Pets Uplift People (PUP) volunteer program. Jake visits patients every Monday with his owner, Patricia Manseau of Pembroke.

“What does he have to give? Joy,” said Pat, “that simple, three-letter word. I like sharing that with patients.”

Jake and several other therapy dogs make approximately 425 PUP visits a year as part of Concord Hospital Therapeutic Arts and Activity Services, a health program subsidized as a Hospital Community Benefit. Therapeutic Arts and Activity Services support clinical care by relaxing patients with music, not medication; avoiding boredom with crafts or puzzles; or bringing a smile with the wag of a furry tail.

Jake often sits on a chair, close enough to put his front paws on the bed, where some patients hug him, others pat him. He helps calm patients, sparks conversation about their pets at home and brightens their day.

“Children are just giddy when Jake walks in,” Pat said. “They’ll sit on the floor with him, curl up together and get kisses.

”Pat remembers one day when a young girl screamed as a nurse tried to take her blood pressure. When Pat and Jake walked by on the way to see another patient, the child’s dad waved them in. After checking with the nurse, Jake went in and the girl started patting him. She, and her blood pressure, settled down.

Karla Roth, the Hospital’s director of Volunteer Services, said PUP visits can prompt more important results.

During one visit, a stroke victim spoke to the dog and ignored the people in the room.“He hadn’t talked to anyone for two weeks,” Karla said. “They didn’t know he could talk. His whole treatment plan changed because he talked to the dog. That was a major medical breakthrough.”