{"id":8826,"date":"2024-09-17T07:58:19","date_gmt":"2024-09-16T21:58:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/community\/uncategorized\/dilly-brings-comfort-and-calmness-to-end-of-life-choice"},"modified":"2024-09-18T16:46:06","modified_gmt":"2024-09-18T06:46:06","slug":"dilly-brings-comfort-and-calmness-to-end-of-life-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/community\/news\/dilly-brings-comfort-and-calmness-to-end-of-life-choice","title":{"rendered":"Dilly brings comfort and calmness to end-of-life choice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dilly brings comfort and calmness to end-of-life choice<\/h1>\n

\"DillyThere is now a special four-legged friend visiting residential aged care facilities across North Brisbane and Moreton Bay.<\/h4>\n

Meet Dilly, the five and half year-old miniature Cavoodle and certified therapy dog.<\/p>\n

Dilly\u2019s aim in life is to visit and spend as much time as possible enjoying people\u2019s company and bringing joy to the palliative care patients, families and staff at residential aged care facilities (RACF).<\/p>\n

Specialist Palliative Care in Aged Care (SPACE) Nurse Practitioner Nicole Hutchinson said she knew about the benefits of therapy dogs, but didn\u2019t expect how well Dilly would be welcomed by patients and staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first I wasn\u2019t sure how introducing Dilly into the palliative care space would work but I can\u2019t believe how much happiness she brings to everyone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe impact that her visits make are so powerful for not only the patients but also the staff here at North Lakes Health Precinct where the SPACE service is located.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen staff feel like they are having a bad day they can give Dilly a cuddle and sit with her for a while and this makes them feel better, they love it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is so good to see our aged care patient\u2019s spirit’s lift when they get a chance to pat Dilly and experience something familiar to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor unwell people, non-drug therapy like a therapy dog is so powerful it visibly lifts them and brings joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

To become a brilliant therapy dog, Dilly had to go through some intensive obedience training and a certified dog therapy course through Therapy and Support Animals Australia but is currently reaping the benefits of finding new friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew Dilly would be a great therapy dog because she loves company and is so good around people,\u201d Nicole said.<\/p>\n

SPACE is a service which aims to improve access to specialist end-of-life care and better coordination of end-of-life care for RACF residents.<\/p>\n

SPACE Staff Specialist Dr Bill Lukin said we provided specialised support and advice to RACFs, so that care coordination is better placed to allow residents to have their last moments in a place of their choosing.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur team is helping residents avoid being sent to emergency departments through better support, care, partnerships, education and planning,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

SPACE is delivered by Metro North Health\u2019s Community and Oral Health directorate. Each year, Community and Oral Health supports around 1,500 patients and their families during their end-of-life journey.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is now a special four-legged friend visiting residential aged care facilities across North Brisbane and Moreton Bay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":8827,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8826"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8842,"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8826\/revisions\/8842"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}