Care homes use ‘doll therapy’ for residents with dementia
Supporters say it helps those with dementia, but the sight of an older person cuddling an ‘empathy doll’ can disturb relatives
Sue LearnerMon 29 Apr 2013 08.30 BST
The image of an older person cuddling and singing to a child’s doll can be strange and disturbing, yet doll therapy is being used by a growing number of care homes across the UK for people with dementia.
Four Seasons Healthcare, which frequently uses doll therapy in its homes, has found that residents have become so attached to the dolls there have been tussles over them. It has even had to go as far as introducing baby high chairs into the dining halls so residents could feed their dolls while eating their meals.
Despite its growing use, doll therapy is still a controversial intervention as it can be extremely upsetting for families to see their relatives in this infantilised state. Four Seasons Healthcare admits that there has been opposition from both relatives and staff.Advertisement
Caroline Baker, head of quality and dementia care at Four Seasons Healthcare, said: “On a few occasions we have had relatives question it and we always make sure we fully explain what doll therapy is to the relatives.”
A study, Using dolls to alter behaviour in patients with dementia, by researchers at Newcastle University, revealed that care staff voiced concern initially, saying using dolls was “babyish”, “totally demeaning” and “patronising”. Afterwards, however, everyone said there were clear benefits and reported a calming effect, reduction in wandering, increased communication and improved speech.
Mishel Ingle, manager of Granby Rose Care Home in Harrogate, has found “some families have felt embarrassed by the fact that their relative used dolls or teddies at home and have also been comforted by the fact that we promote it and that it is OK for their relative to want to do this. We have helped them to realise why it is so important.”
Baker says some of the Four Seasons staff refused to use the dolls at first as “they felt we were treating the residents like children, but we don’t force the dolls on the residents. Some of the staff got quite militant and cross about it but once they saw it for themselves they changed their minds. I tend to put one on my knee and I ask residents if they would like to hold the doll. I also leave the dolls lying around so residents can just pick them up if they feel like it.”
She says: “It is quite a hard thing to get your head around at first. I even had my doubts initially. But once I saw doll therapy in action I was converted. It can be very emotional seeing someone distressed and not being able to comfort them and doll therapy can often really work and stops them being distressed.”
There are various theories as to why doll therapy works. Some believe it brings back happy memories of parenthood and of being useful and needed. Baker confirms this. For some residents, doll therapy is “very much a nurturing thing as it gives them a sense of meaning and purpose”, she says.
Doll therapy does not work only with people who have had children.”People who haven’t had children find it comforting as well”, said Baker. “My first introduction to doll therapy was with a man who was really missing his wife. He took the doll and calmed down immediately and began talking to the doll.”
Four Seasons uses “empathy dolls” as it has found residents really respond to them. “They are like cabbage patch dolls but they have weighted bottoms which make you want to pat them.They come in different sizes and nationalities. We trialled some of the larger ones, that are around the size of a five-year-old child. We found residents like to put larger dolls in bed with them and lie next to them. We have also tried out a cat with weighted paws with people who have owned cats but it hasn’t been as popular as the dolls.”
It originally introduced doll therapy in 2008 as part of its Pearl programme. The ethos of Pearl (Positively Enriching And enhancing Residents’ Lives) is to see beyond the symptoms of dementia to appreciate the individuality of each resident. A recent study of the programme revealed that use of antipsychotic medication has fallen by nearly a half.
Four Seasons has already invested in four dolls in 60 of its homes. Each “empathy doll” costs about £60. It is currently in the process of expanding doll therapy to 70 more of its homes. Whatever the reasons are, it is adamant that doll therapy is beneficial for people with dementia.
Sue Learner is news editor at carehome.co.uk
