Abicare staff gift Royal Gwent Hospital twiddle muffs for dementia patients

The aids – called 'twiddle muffs' – are knitted hand-warmers with buttons and other accessories inside for people to play with, keeping their hands, and minds, stimulated.

The group of carers from Abicare donated 50 twiddle muffs to the Royal Gwent Hospital on Wednesday (August 15), from where the chaplain's office will distribute the aids throughout the health board and to people who are cared for at home.

Abicare's Rose Thomas with the twiddle muffs handmade by the organisation's staff and service users. 

Carol Taplin, chaplaincy manager at the hospital, explained the thinking behind twiddle muffs.

"It’s all about sensory stimulation – there is evidence to suggest when people with dementia have something to do, or something to touch and play with, they are less likely to wander.

"It’s also important for people who can no longer read, or who have lost their sight.

"Another part of the idea behind the muffs is that people who can’t move around get cold very easily, even when it’s warm."

Rose Thomas, donating the twiddle muffs on behalf of Abicare, said: "We do as much as we can to support charities, but what we’ve done now is involve the carers, and I think that’s brilliant."

Mrs Thomas said the team had been so dedicated to knitting the aids over the last few months, one carer, Kirsty Sheridan, knitted in torchlight while waiting for the breakdown service to rescue her during the snowstorms in March.

Mrs Thomas thanked everyone who had contributed to the project "out of the goodness of their hearts", and gave a special mention to a 94-year-old service user who had knitted 20 of the twiddle muffs.