AAT : Assisted Animal Therapy
Creature comfort care home residents
ANIMAL magic cheered up the elderly residents of a Brixham care home.
Simon Kite of the town's activity services (Sunshine Activities) visited Frencham House with a host of furry friends
Simon, known as the Animal Man, brought along his well behaved but playful dog Bruno for the residents to groom.
He then gave everyone a rug to put on their laps and handeed out various animals such as chinchillas, rabbits, gerbils, guinea pigs and hampsters for them to hold and stroke.
Nick Ross, the manager at the Stonehaven Healthcare Group registered home, said: "Simon also spoke to the residents and gave various information about each animal. It was a fantastic afternoon and put the smile back on peoples faces. The therapeutic benifits were unbelievable.
Music activities for the Elderly and Disabled:
Torquay, Torbay Devon.
With music there are so many therapeutic benefits that we don't immediately notice.
We all succumb to the 'Sound of Music' as it were and music can give us so much. Relaxation, Dynamics, Sadness, Joy even anger can be enhanced by listening or playing certain pieces.
What
we like to offer is the thrill of being involved as well
as just being the audience.
We can get residents/ individuals involved by Singing along
to well known tunes, or even tapping a tambourine along
to the beat.
We also like to take the music making further still and actually make some of the percussion instruments before we do a performance.
Many people enjoy the complete package which gives them something to build up to.
With
music, it can stimulate many senses not just Vocally but
also Aurally, sometimes the hard of hearing can pick up
deeper notes and get a sense of the rhythm. The completely
Deaf can actually feel the sounds of deeper notes also enabling
them to pick up rhythm's.
We try to involve as many people as possible in our music sessions and even try to tie it in with light exercise for those taking part.