The hens at Peamount residential units are a great eggsample of good company
DOGS AND their owners are weekly visitors to nursing homes and day care centres through the voluntary organisation, Peata.
Cats are sometimes welcomed into residential care centres as pets.
However, the hens which have recently taken up residence at Peamount Healthcare in Newcastle, Co Dublin might just be breaking new ground.
“The idea originated around getting a pet for the residents and someone was afraid of dogs so one of the residents suggested getting hens,” explains Mary Doyle, clinical nurse specialist for St Ciarán’s and St Patrick’s residential care units for older persons at Peamount Healthcare.
The units have an active resident and relative’s group and one resident donated funds towards buying five hens and a purpose-built coop which would be placed on the large green area in front of the residential units.
And so the hens – a leg horn, a rhode island red, a speckled sussex and two isa browns, subsequently named by the residents as Matilda, Kitty, Dina, Lady and Abby – arrived in August of last year.
And according to Doyle, patients and staff have become so involved in their care and wellbeing (and egg collection) that she now circulates a regular newsletter on the Peamount intranet which staff print out and place on bulletin boards throughout the units.
One of the most exciting developments so far was when one of the hens miraculously (well, there was a little intervention) hatched out three chicks who have since provided much entertainment for residents and staff alike. Many patients also insist on eating the free-range eggs that are collected from the coop on a daily basis.
Doyle also carried out a study into the effects of the hens on the residents, the results of which she will present at the All Ireland Gerontology Nurses Association conference in Cork next month.
For the study, she interviewed residents about their attitudes to the hens and also asked relatives about their impressions of behaviour change associated with the arrival of the hens.
Christine Flanagan has been a resident at the centre for two years and participated in the study.
“I walk over to see them a couple of times a day. They follow me everywhere. They always seem hungry,” says Flanagan, who feeds bananas to the hens.
Flanagan was the resident who instigated the purchase of the hens. “I felt it would benefit everyone. It’s a therapy in itself to have them here.”
James Barry, another resident who is a wheelchair user, says: “It’s nice to have them out there. When I sit out there, they get all around me up on the table and all. They are a bit of company. It doesn’t seem so lonely looking out when you see them wandering about.”
Doyle notes in her research that these comments emphasise how the hens increase activity levels and reduce loneliness among the residents.
She also found that the hens provoke reminiscence and conversation among the residents and staff. “They generate a huge amount of initiated conversation which lifts the mood even if it’s lashing rain outside,” she says.
Another resident who suffers from dementia named one of the hens and subsequently always remembered the hen’s name – even though she often forgot the name of the nurses who attend to her daily.
One relative, Patricia Tully, whose father has since passed away, says: “We watched them together out of the window. At the weekend, visitors bring their children over to feed them. Dad loved children and he enjoyed looking out at them playing.”
Generally speaking, the staff look after the chicken coop but some of the relatives also get involved in looking after the hens.
“They run freely all day and we haven’t lost any yet. Everybody shares in the work and two healthcare assistants clean out the coop. And the wife of one of the residents puts them in every night before she leaves,” says Doyle.
The clinical nurse specialist is in no doubt as to the benefit of having the hens at Peamount. “Having resident animals in a care home can have a positive effect on residents’ wellbeing but it requires the commitment of staff to ensure the residents and animals receive the best care,” she says.
