Accident survivors with spinal cord injuries will face many different methods of rehabilitation to heal both physical and psychological trauma. One way that therapists can help patients is by providing the use of therapy and service dogs. Dogs can help accident survivors adapt to injuries psychologically and physically.

What Benefits can Therapy and Service Dogs Provide?

At Craig Hospital in Colorado, Sage, a 6-year-old Doberman, provides comfort to patients recovering from spinal cord injuries. For the past three years, Sage has helped the hospital by cheering up patients recovering from catastrophic accidents. Research from the University of Massachusetts has shown that therapy dogs can help patients decrease anxiety, fight feelings of loneliness and lower blood pressure.

As it turns out, using dogs can also physically help accident survivors with spinal cord injuries.

According to the Christopher Reeves Foundation, service dogs can help with tasks that someone with paralysis from a spinal cord injury would otherwise be unable to do. Service dogs can alert other people for emergency assistance and help pick up objects. Tasks such as picking up television remotes, opening drawers and fetching portable phones for emergencies are part of the job description for service dogs.

Accident survivors with spinal cord injuries will have a long period of rehabilitation, and any tool to help ease the process of recovery is extremely beneficial. We encourage our readers to learn more about spinal cord injuries by exploring our website and following us on Facebook.

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