On our adult visits we find that most people love animals and some of those we visit have had to give up their own pets. Our CAP Therapy pets provide enjoyment and therapeutic support to those we visit. Residents often get to know our pets by name and look forward to their visits each month. Many people respond to animals when they may be unable to respond to other people. It has also been clinically and medically shown that pet assisted therapy helps with depression, cognitive disorders, anxiety, and lowers blood pressure.
CAP’s visits to adult facilities are usually scheduled monthly. Therapy Teams, consisting of handlers and their animals, visit for about an hour. Some Therapy Teams visit one site, while others visit multiple sites each month. The visits are sometimes conducted in a large community room of the facility, or one on one in the clients’ rooms. Every facility is different, and we design a visit that suits the needs of the facility and the needs of our member teams.
CAP charges no fees but requests publicity via the facility’s newsletter, website or through other means when possible. We welcome contributions to help with our expenses, including the cost of the insurance coverage we provide to all our members when visiting CAP sanctioned events. Donations also assist with the costs of training to ensure that our dogs and handlers are qualified to participate in pet therapy.
If you would like us to consider your facility for visitation, please click here to fill out an online Visitation Request Form. When the completed form is returned, we will put your organization on our waiting list. Every effort will be made to accommodate your request as soon as possible. When visiting teams are available, a representative of CAP will contact your Activities Director or other contact person of your choice and meet with them to determine the facility’s appropriate visiting needs. We provide one-hour monthly visits, and CAP will work with you to tailor a visit that works for your facility. For more information contact CAP Board President Mary Wills at info@CompanionAnimalProgram.com.
This is the current list of our Adult Visitation sites:
Atria Woodbriar Park
Barnstable Sr. Center Adult Daycare
Broad Reach — Liberty Commons
Broad Reach — The Victorian
Cape Cod Hospital
Cape Heritage
Cape Regency
Community Connections
Falmouth Hospital
Harbor Point
JML Care Center
Laurentide at Mashpee Commons
Life Inc., Hyannis Complex
Pleasant Bay Nursing and Rehab Center
Rock Harbor Respite
Rosewood Manor
Royal Health Cotuit
Royal Health Falmouth
Royal Health Magansett
Seashore Point
Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
Terraces of Orleans
Thirwood Place
Woodlands at Pleasant Bay
Certified CAP teams with at least 6 visits at an Adult visit site can apply to be a part of the CAP programs at Cape Cod Hospital and Falmouth Hospital. For more information and to complete an application for this program go to the Members page.