More cuddle beds added to Yarmouth hospital
Hospice society aims to bring peace and comfort to patients and families
Of course, there's a more technical manufacturer's name to them, but known as cuddle beds, that term is as beautiful as is their purpose.
The beds allow people who are reaching the end of their lives, while inside a hospital, to cuddle with their families at a time when this closeness and togetherness is a most precious gift.
This summer the Yarmouth County Hospice Society welcomed the delivery of two additional cuddle beds for use in the hospice rooms at the Yarmouth Regional Hospital.
These beds, under normal use, have the same dimensions as a regular hospital bed. But what makes them special is they can be widened to allow end-of-life patients to cuddle with a loved one.
“Although placed in three of seven hospice rooms, a cuddle bed can be temporarily relocated to another unit when an end-of-life patient located in that unit is too ill to be moved,” the hospice society says in a media release, noting the first existing cuddle bed has been used for this purpose.
The Yarmouth County Hospice Society partners with Nova Scotia Health, the Yarmouth Regional Hospital, the Yarmouth Hospital Foundation, and the VON to support end-of-life care for the residents of Yarmouth, Shelburne and Digby counties.
During the years 2019 to 2021, the society funded and furnished seven hospice rooms and a family room on 4 North, which is the Palliative Care Unit at the Yarmouth Regional Hospital.
Furnishings for each hospice room included folding beds for family support members, SMART TVs, blinds, quilts, and lamps. At that time the first cuddle bed – funded by donations to the society – was provided.
The family room initially included a sofa, chair, and wall decorations. Since then more comforts have been added by the society, including additional lamps and folding chairs for the hospice rooms, and a service cart, mini fridge, coffee machine, kettle, lamps, water pitchers, coffee mugs, and a microwave for the family room.
Some items were in-kind donations from local businesses.
“The amenities in the family room provide a level of ‘away from home comfort' to family members of patients at end-of-life, that cannot be achieved within the hospice rooms," the society says.