Activity sessions with Cheeky and Thomas - have now become a regular therapy at Braeside House in Edinburgh which is home to 70 blind and visually impaired older people. Carers say sessions with the pets, which live in a pen on the roof of the home have made a huge difference to residents at the home - where the average age is 92.

 

Linda Mason from the home’s activities team says: “We have a lot of residents with severe dementia and all of them are partially sighted. It is really wonderful to see the smiles on their faces when they hold the guinea pigs.  It seems to relax people, make them feel secure and to take their minds off loneliness and grief. A lot of them have had dogs and cats - but we can’t really have a cat in here because they might turn round and scratch you. Cheeky and Thomas seem to enjoy it as well.  They are very happy to sit and be held by the residents and they get spoiled rotten by all the staff.”

 

Resident Annabel Robertson a former nurse, aged 84 from Wick said she enjoyed spending time with the animals. “I think they are quite happy here. We always had a dog and we used to have canaries and things like that.  But my granny used to have a cat and if you put your hand out it used to scratch you.  That put me off cats.”

 

Deputy Matron Morag Francis said the two guinea pigs made a huge contribution to life at Braeside House.   She said the home used to have a pet rabbit - which proved too jumpy to be used for pet therapy - but that the placid temperament of the guinea pigs made them ideal companions for older people.

 

“We have had them for about a year and it has made a huge difference to some of our residents.  It really seems to calm people down. Residents with dementia can sometimes become quite upset and disorientated. One lady in particular gets quite distressed and we sit her with a guinea pig on her lap and it really seems to comfort her. We are very open to new ideas here.  We’re always willing to try something and see if it works.”

 

Braeside House, which has won multiple awards for innovation, staff training and as care home of the year is part of the Royal Blind charity and is funded by a combination of fees, local authorities and donations.  The home, most of whose residents are registered blind takes people from all areas of Scotland and some from the North of England.

 

An inspection report from the Care Commission published in March this year ranked the care at the home as ‘Very Good’ and made special mention of the contribution Cheeky and Thomas made to residents care. The report said: “We were told about the positive benefits that the pets had with some people who found verbal communication difficult.”