Jean lives at Goldenley Care Home in Essex and during a recent one-to-one session, spent time with Lifestyle Coordinator, Faith making fiddle muffs in support of a local community initiative.
Fiddle Muffs are small, knitted items that provide comfort to people, especially those who live with dementia. Fiddling with the items inside the muffs helps to relieve feelings of tension and restlessness, whilst providing comfort to the individual.
Paulette is a District Nurse who used to be a team leader at Goldenley and as part of her role, when visiting members of the community, has been dropping off fiddle muffs and blankets to people who live with dementia. Seeing how appreciative people are when they receive them, Paulette asked Faith if they would like to support her effort in the community and make some fiddle muffs with the people they care for.
Faith thought this was a wonderful idea and during one-to-one sessions, has been asking residents if they would like to take part. Jean was one of the people who said she would be happy to get involved and recently sat down with Faith to make some fiddle muffs.
To make the fiddle muffs, they used a variety of coloured wools and engaging sensory items. This included small knitted worms, buttons and fasteners, and other engaging items to add texture.
After making the fiddle muffs, Jean tried them out and gave them a thumbs-up of approval. All that was left to do was give them to Paulette to drop off to people living in the local community.
Due to the success of the activity in the home, and the positive benefits the items they create have in the community, Faith will continue to host fiddle muff-making sessions with the people who live at Goldenley.