Fiddle mitts produce a win/win
A creative knitting project is helping delirium patients in an unexpected way.
Fiddle mitts are the latest knitting trend providing a comforting distraction for delirium patients.
The initiative comes from the Waitemata District Health Board and helps patients at Waitakere Hospital and North Shore Hospital in Auckland.
Gerontology nurse specialist Elaine Docherty, who oversees the initiative, says patients with delirium can get agitated and distressed and pull at tubes and wires.
She says the fiddle mitts provide a distraction and nurses can use them as an alternative tool to sedatives. It’s a source of comfort and can also stop patients pulling at dressings.
Delirium, also known as acute confusion, generally affects older adults. A full recovery is possible with the right treatment, according to the Waitemata DHB.
The mitts are also used for stroke patients with limited mobility.
Docherty says they got patterns from Britain where the mitts are mainly used for dementia patients.
The Henderson-based Emerge Aotearoa knitting group have knitted over 100 mitts, says Emerge Aotearoa facilitator Dale Weaver.
There are 14 members all aged 65 and older. They often live alone and are estranged from families and the knitting group gets them out, Weaver says.
‘‘They’re very socially.’’ isolated
She says it maintains wellness and is about feeling part of a group.
Marie Sheehan has been with the group for nearly two years. She says her favourite part is that it’s very friendly.
‘‘I really look forward coming.’’
She says she’s around people to her own age in their late 60s and 70s.
‘‘It’s really nice to have that companionship’’.
It’s wonderful the mitts are going to the patients, and is nice to know what they do is beneficial, Sheehan says.
‘‘It’s really having a magical effect.’’ – Fairfax NZ
Fiddle mitts provide a distraction for patients with delirium.