Llamas Bring Happiness to Nursing Home | National Geographic

If you had someone and you said, "Let's go look at a llama," the llama's coming in the building. My gosh! When does a llama come in the building? As soon as they see Travis in the building, everybody just wants to touch him repeatedly. Even when you come back and forth, they'll pet him like five or six times. His breath is pretty potent, but that doesn't stop from kissing the residents.

"How you doing, PR? You are beautiful."

There's been studies showing that there's decreased agitation and increased participation in therapy with the use of animals. There's an innate calmness to the animals, which is just immeasurable. They don't judge you because you're in a wheelchair or because maybe you're not sitting straight or having some other issue. So, we can get someone to stand and work on their balance to reach up and pat the llama.

A lot of facilities don't have animals, and I don't know if there's fear of the cleanliness or what it is, but it is so easy to do. Not everyone can have a llama in their front yard or chickens, but encouraging your workers or families that visit to bring in their animals is no cost, and it's nothing but beneficial for the residents.

And it's a shame that more facilities don't, because it is a wonderfully powerful experience for the residents and the patients that live in these areas.

"Nice, isn't he? Nice, your favorite? My favorite! Look at them!"

Just because someone is in a Skilled Nursing Facility, it doesn't change who they are as a person. He looks at me like, "What's going on here?" and it can be such a gratifying experience.

"Oh God, I love that."

There is a high level of loss at times, and that's hard. There are days that are really hard, but the reason you do it is because even if it is someone's last time, you're able to make it more meaningful. And sometimes that's what you take away, and that's what keeps you going.