Wags for Wellness works to ease student stress

SF State’s Health Promotion & Wellness unit works together with the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to comfort students through the use of therapy dogs. 

Every Thursday from 12:30 p.m to 1:30 p.m., volunteers walk the dogs in different locations across campus. 

“Therapy dogs are a perfect way to just come over, pet some dogs and destress,” said SF State student and Wags for Wellness volunteer Monica Sabelja. “I think it just overall makes students happier throughout the day.” 

According to HPW’s Senior Mental Health Education Coordinator Vincent Lam, the Wags for Wellness program was inspired by the scientific conclusion that interactions with animals actually decreases stress.  

“For those that are experiencing stress, it typically helps lower the stress response that occurs,” Lam said. “Generally, interacting with animals has been shown to decrease levels of cortisol and lower blood pressure.” 

Sabelja believes that the shift from attending college online during the pandemic to being back in-person was a difficult challenge for all students to overcome. 

“Someone was talking about living on campus and they weren’t allowed to bring their animal,” Sabelja said. “So this was like a way for them to kind of remember what it was like having a pet.” 

Kyle Mullins, HPW student leader and mental health team member, also believes that this program calls for the SF State community to come together after being online. 

“I feel like this event is an opportunity to bring back some community since everything has been online,” Mullins said. “[It’s a] great opportunity to bring everyone back together.”  

Although this event showed therapy dogs, the Wags for Wellness Program isn’t specific to dogs alone. 

“When available, we have brought therapy cats, pigs and bunnies in the past,” Lam said. “It’s usually in the context of a counseling setting, but we apply the same idea in the context of prevention and community wellness promotion.”

HPW was able to make this possible due to SF State’s long history with the SF SPCA.  

“Their Assisted Animal Therapy program has a volunteer coordinator, who we work with to arrange for visits,” Lam said. “We typically request at least two teams and for bigger events, may request more if possible.”

The variety of dogs are dependent on the volunteer pool. Because it is an SF SPCA volunteer program, SF State doesn’t request specific dogs. 

“It is not uncommon for them to request to visit our campus and return several times a semester,” Lam said. “Sometimes, when we don’t have all dates filled, we may reach out to teams that are familiar with our campus to see if they’re available to support.” 

In addition to working with the SF SPCA organization, the HPW also works with SF State’s Enterprise Risk Management team to ensure that HPW has insurance documentation when working with the animals. 

“SF SPCA must provide an up to date certificate of insurance before visiting our campus,” said Lam. “It addresses the safety and liability aspects of risk management.”

According to Lam, the goal of Wags for Wellness is in connection with HPW’s goal of increasing social support around mental health, mental health promotion and to foster a community with a sense of belonging for SF State students. 

“This is one of the activities that help us increase campus-wide mental health promotion and self-care opportunities for students, especially focusing on stress and stress relief,” said Lam.  

 The next event will be located at the Quad at HPW’s Fun Fest on Oct. 6.