Silver Living Manchester

21 www.silverlivingmagazine.co.uk Call for FREE your consultion 01204 382244 Our website is very informative and will advise you as much as possible. www.boltondenturecentre.co.uk Bolton Denture Centre, 44 Higher Bridge Street, Bolton BL1 2HA We’ll get you smiling ... BOLTON DENTURE CENTRE • Complete Dentures • Partial Dentures • Denture Repair • Denture Relining • Sport & Mouth Guards A GROUP of very special visitors to hospital wards is helping put a smile on patients’ faces. The four-legged friends are helping to relax people and put them at ease during their hospital stay. Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport has six therapy dogs making regular visits to its wards and community hospitals in the area. They have even been joined by a friendly donkey who cheers up patients with visits one of the smaller hospitals. Pet therapy is a way of helping patients relax by the simple of means of letting them interact with friendly animals. It has been shown to release endorphins that produce a calming effect, and can help alleviate pain, reduce stress, and provide psychological support. Health chiefs are delighted by the positive impact the animals are making. The latest canine recruit is Daphne, a friendly mongrel who was saved from the street. She usually visits older patients, while others are assigned to children’s areas. Like the others she has a very gentle nature and has been certified as a ‘Pets as Therapy’ dog. Pet therapy runs aside other innovative forms of patient support run at Stepping Hill and in the the community, including musical therapy, film evenings, hand massages, manicures ‘Pooches for patients’ is just the tonic and craft activities. It is all about making the patient’s stay as positive as possible. Emma Rogers, matron for patient experience at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, says: “The introduction of pet therapy in the past year has been a real success story. “Both the dogs and the donkey have been bringing a lot of joy to a lot of patients. “Patients who don’t have so many visitors find them particularly comforting, but they really have got down well across the board. In fact, they have gone down so well that we’re on the lookout for more.”