Man’s Best Friend…May just be a Monkey

Disability and patient need are established and verified.
Then—following verification—specialists are sent to the home to assess the patient’s needs, lifestyle and home to ensure a perfect match.

By all accounts, it sounds like routine HME house call…until you factor in the monkey.

"There are no Medicare codes for monkeys," laughed monkey trainer Alison Payne, noting the obvious differences between her organization, Helping Hands: Monkey Helpers for the Disabled, and what could be referred to as "more traditional" HME suppliers.

For 7 years now, Payne, director of training for Helping Hands, has aided the organization in providing quality of life enhancements for complex rehab patients. But, unlike the traditional HME complex rehab offerings, the "enhancements" Payne and her Helping Hands team provide don’t run on batteries or electricity.

They don’t run on bananas either.

"Our monkeys learn through positive reinforcement," Payne explained. "When they learn a new skill or complete a skill correctly, they are praised enthusiastically and given a lick of peanut butter."

Established nearly 30 years ago as the brainchild of behavioral psychologist MJ Willard and occupational therapist Judi Zazula, Helping Hands is a Boston-based, non-profit organization that raises and trains South American capuchin monkeys to assist quadriplegics and other patients with spinal cord injuries. The monkeys are bred in the United States, trained for three years at "monkey college" and then placed with patients who meet a "monkey match"—patients like California C5 Craig Cook.

Once active in a myriad of sports, Cook was paralyzed in an automobile accident 12 years ago. Cook’s condition left him feeling completely dependant, helpless and alone. But all of that changed once Minnie arrived.

So named because of her tiny size, Minnie, the 25-year-old capuchin with a 30-word vocabulary, has become an invaluable helpmate for Cook—opening his mail, disposing of trash, turning on lights, grabbing the phone, fetching and preparing snacks and beverages and reaching objects in high places. Minnie can even operate the microwave.

According to Payne, Minnie’s daily activities are just a few of many that Helping Hands monkeys are trained for.