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Hounds Helping Humans is a partnership between NSW-based aged care providers, HammondCare, and Greyhound Rescue, a volunteer organisation which rescues the dogs from the racing industry. Their goal is to provide all the company’s residential aged care sites in NSW with regular doggy visits, with potential for Victoria and South Australia to follow.
HammondCare’s CEO, Mike Baird, says the greyhounds bring joy to the faces of the residents involved. Many of the 2000 residents who will potentially benefit live with dementia.
Associate Professor Steve Macfarlane, HammondCare’s Dementia Centre Head of Clinical Services, says research has found significant health benefits for people living with dementia from animal engagement.
He points to improvements in quality of life through decreased loneliness and depression, increasing physical activity, and improved socialisation.
Greyhound Rescue President, Nat Panzarino, says greyhounds are good candidates to help the wellbeing of aged care residents because they’re generally docile and tall enough to be accessible to people in wheelchairs or confined to beds.