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.

Meet our Providers :-

The Therapeutic providers we have working along side us have their own specialist skills in recreational therapy and live and work around Torquay, Torbay Devon.

When setting out regular activities for a home we make sure that we rotate our therapists in order to give a wide variety of activities. However if a home already has activities provided from other sources, they can select any of our specialist therapists to compliment their own.

All of our activity providers brings into play some general therapies in their work such as Reminiscing, Movement, Dexterity and Fun, but the specialist in each takes the activity that one step further.

Below is a list of our therapists and a breakdown of their specialty.

Glen Darby Glen Specialises in Art, Craft and also has a background in theater (Drama). He studied theater at Dartington college south Devon. Glen works mainly with Paper Crafts using a mixture of techniques to produce some beautiful designs. He also provides games, quizzes and interesting dialogues into the therapy work.	Hayley Darby Hayley Specialises in Music Therapy. She studied Music at Dartington College getting here BA Hons. Degree in 1994. Hayley includes musical games and rhythm work in her activities as well as other games, quizzes and interesting dialogues.
Simon Kite Simon Kite is an Animal Therapist. He uses many domestic and unusual animals in his sessions including, A Dog, rabbit, chinchilla, Gerbils and many more. Simon also has a collection of different animal objects that he takes round with him as part of his therapy, these would include an Elephants Tooth and Ostrich Eggs.	Barry Cole Barry is an experienced Bandsman who has the ability to motivate people and get them joining in on the sessions. Understanding music and its therapeutic advantages on people, Barry will hand out percussion instruments for residents to join in his musical activities. Barry will also provide some interesting quizzes based on music and snippets of music. His light hearted active sessions really provide for a unique Activity.
Una Staughton Una is a qualified Occupational Therapist. She uses light exercise, relaxation techniques and other similar therapies in her work. Una's adaptability and great personality provides a fantasticly relaxed atmosphere encouraging participation in the games, quizzes and other relevant therapies she uses in her sessions.	Maddo Painting There is music in abundance with Maddo who has a host of unusual instruments to talk about and hand out for percussion work. Maddo is a laid back chap with a great choice in excellent music to get the residents reminiscing to and singing along to. With the unusual percussion instruments the residents get a chance to join in helping with dexterity, but more importantly loving the session and always asking for more.
Emily Kreider Emily is a theatre specialist. She has a very jolly lively personality and, with her group of actors, has performed many shows both in England and In France. Not only is Emily providing activities in the homes, but she has also got together with her group to provide a Christmas special - "IN THE MOOD"	Richard Whistance Richard is an accomplished musician. He has a lovely little repetoir which he performs with a ukelele, but also he uses a variety of instruments to make the therapy session interactive, interesting and so enjoyable that everyone is asking for him to come back.
Gavin Titley Gavin is a great activity provider who total understands the needs and desires of the elderly. He provides some enthusiastic games, quizzes and other relevant sessions. Gavin works in the care sector promoting care in the community and gains a fantastic in-depth insight to the requirements of people regarding activities. Bubbly and bouncy Gavin is intently more-ish.