A Forest of Dean District Council twiddlemuff challenge designed to support residents living with dementia has been acknowledged in a recent Care Quality Commission inspection report as an area of good and outstanding practice.
The Commission’s inspection covered all services provided by Gloucestershire Care Services NHS Trust and mentioned the use of twiddlemuffs for community hospital patients. The report noted that the muffs had a ‘soothing and comforting effect’ on the patients, pharm in particular when used by people who have dementia.
Twiddlemuffs are a knitted hand muff with interesting bits and bobs like beads, salve zips and ribbons attached inside and outside. They were originally designed by Bradford University, a leading research centre in dementia care, who highlighted their benefits in reducing anxiety in people living with dementia. The muffs are known to provide stimulation for active hands, promote increased flexibility and brain stimulation, whilst providing reassurance and comfort.
The Council appealed for twiddlemuffs in March, leading up to Dementia Awareness Week in May, and as a result over 1,100 muffs were made and generously donated by caring Forest of Dean residents and their friends and family from across the country.
The Council has donated many of the muffs to care homes and hospitals, as well as enabling individuals to give them to people in need. The Council has also been working with the Gloucestershire Village Agents to distribute the muffs across the county.
Cllr Carole Allaway-Martin, Cabinet Member for Housing and Wellbeing said: “We are absolutely delighted that at our twiddlemuffs initiative has been given a worthy mention in the Care Quality Commission inspection report.”
“We were amazed at the response to our twiddlemuff challenge, and can’t thank people enough for their hard work in creating over 1,100 muffs. Most of these have now been distributed across Gloucestershire to people living with dementia.”
“There are lots of heart-warming stories about groups of people getting together to knit the muffs and we’re grateful to everyone who got involved in this wonderful initiative.”
Individuals who would like to collect a twiddlemuff for a family member or friend, or who would like to talk to someone about dementia are welcome to contact Lena Maller on 01594 812609 or email lena.maller@fdean.gov.uk
More information about twiddlemuffs can be found on the council’s website www.fdean.gov.uk/go/twiddlemuff