Volunteers help keep patients engaged

Brighter Lives volunteers have signed on to support a new program helping to reduce delirium and promote recovery for patients at TUH. The volunteers have hand-crafted fiddle blankets and IV sleeves to help calm and engage patients for the Eat Walk Engage program.

Allied services have introduced the Eat Walk Engage program that improves care for older patients in acute hospital wards across Queensland and is currently in place on TUH’s Medical 2 and Surgical 2 wards. The program has been found to significantly reduce delirium and promote recovery and helps patients (over 65 years of age), family and staff to provide:  

• Optimal nutrition and hydration (Eat)  
• Early and regular mobility (Walk)  
• Engagement in meaningful cognitive and social activities (Engage) 

Eat Walk Engage Facilitator, Lauren Matheson, said the handmade items assist patients who are experiencing delirium or have a cognitive impairment and promotes recovery.

“These aides are designed to allow people to keep their hands busy and alleviate agitation by giving them something to focus on, explore and “fiddle” with in a safe way.

“As part of the program, the Brighter Lives volunteers are also participating in a reading program once weekly on Surgical 2, sharing stories and keeping our patients up-to-date with current events,” she said.    

Brighter Lives CEO, Tanya Busoli, looks forward to a future of collaboration and support. 

“We have amazing volunteers with a wide range of skills and experience.  We love it when our volunteers can use their skills to help support and offer solutions to the hospital staff.

“It’s a great collaboration and we look forward to working with staff in this way more in the future,” she said.

The Eat Walk Engage Facilitators are looking forward to working together to continue supporting the patients.

“Thank you to Brighter Lives for all their support and generosity. We are very excited about this collaboration and looking forward to working on future projects together with the foundation,” said Lauren.

Did you know…

Muscle strength decreases 2-5% per day of bed rest. For our older patients, one day can mean the difference between independence and dependence

If you are working with a patient or have a loved one in the hospital who you think may benefit, please speak to an EWE Facilitator to find out where these are located on the ward.