Oklahoma Speaker's Ball Honors Oklahoma Children's Hospital's Pet Therapy ‘Paws for Purpose’ Program
The Oklahoma Speaker's Ball, an Oklahoma tradition since the 1960s, recently honored the Oklahoma Children's Hospital OU Health pet therapy program, "Paws for Purpose," at its annual bipartisan event intended to showcase and raise funds for some of Oklahoma’s most impactful charitable organizations.
The recognition comes with $50,000 in funds for the program, which was started in 2017 to help patients reach clinical goals, including but not limited to pain management, procedural support, outcome-based play, sibling and family support, as well as urgent and emergent needs—all with the help of trained therapy dogs.
Studies have shown that interactions with therapy animals can reduce anxiety, stress, and pain perception in patients, fostering a more positive and healing environment.
At this year’s event, hosted at the Oklahoma City Convention Center on January 25, attendees heard how Ned, a trained facility therapy dog changed a patient's attitude toward taking her medicine. While in the clinic, the child refused to take her medication, and her mother shared that it is often difficult to get her to take it. Ned and his primary handler, Certified Child Life Specialist Laura, came to the rescue. Through therapeutic medical play, Laura provided a session demonstrating techniques for taking medications, with Ned expertly playing his role by taking mock pills. After a few minutes of Laura's education and Ned's demonstration, the child agreed to take her medicine with little resistance.
The Paws for Purpose program partners with local animal therapy organizations to bring well-trained, certified therapy animals like dogs, cats, and even miniature horses into the hospital. The animals are paired with Certified Child Life Specialists to ensure that each interaction is meaningful and tailored to the specific needs of the patient.
"Our therapy animals are an integral part of our care team,” said Erin Bailey, M.A., CCLS, director of Child Life, Integrative and Creative Care at Oklahoma Children's Hospital. “They help create a calming environment for our patients, and the funds raised will allow us to expand and enhance our services."
Since 2005, the Oklahoma Speaker’s Ball has donated nearly a million dollars to worthy causes across the state. Oklahoma Speaker’s Ball, Inc. is a 501c4 nonprofit organization and non-partisan event, which is funded by private funds and managed by an independent board of directors.
"Alexis and I are delighted the Oklahoma Speaker's Ball is supporting Oklahoma Children’s Hospital and their life-changing pet therapy program," said Speaker Kyle Hilbert. "These dogs are the only thing that helped us calm the fears of our young daughter as she was having to go back for a second surgery. She only was going back to the hospital if she could see Ned, her therapy dog. We hope this donation will help the program serve more children who otherwise might be scared of being in the hospital.”
To learn more about Oklahoma Children's Hospital’s Pet Therapy Program or to make a donation, please visit OklahomaChildrens.org/giving.