“The meaningful and intimate connection that can be given to critically ill patients with these beds is an immeasurable gift, and can help to remove physical barriers for loved ones during end of life care.” - Karan Lane Nurse Unit Manager, Oncology, St John of God Health Care
Patients in palliative care can often feel a sense of isolation, even when their loved ones are nearby.
‘Cuddle Beds’ are special hospital beds that can be converted to support two or more people, allowing more connection with loved ones during end of life care. These simple yet profoundly impactful beds allow families to be as close as possible, and lay together during the precious last days of their loved one’s life.
In a first for WA, St John of God Murdoch Hospital was one of the first health care providers in Australia to offer a Cuddle Bed to patients in palliative care.
By raising funds to support Cuddle Beds in St John of God Health Care hospitals, we hope to ensure that we can offer this level of care and comfort to as many palliative patients as possible. With this in mind, we are so very pleased to provide the latest update on our fundraising efforts for Cuddle Beds. Thanks to the generosity of our community, Cuddle Bed trials have been underway in eight St John of God Health Care hospitals in recent months. The feedback from caregivers overseeing the beds in use has been overwhelmingly supportive. “Palliative patients and families loved this bed..”
“The family loved using the bed, enjoyed cuddling their Dad and found it comfortable to sleep on.” “The family enjoyed having time to cuddle their loved one. They found the bed very comfortable and loved having this time with their Mum.” Thank you for your support and kindness in helping to bring the highest level of comfort and connection to our patients and their families experiencing palliative care.
St John of God Health Care salary packaging partner, Maxxia, has generously donated $30,000 towards Cuddle Beds in our hospitals across Australia.
We are grateful to Maxxia for their philanthropic leadership and their commitment in helping to bring greater comfort and connection to patients in palliative care.
“Maxxia’s key purpose is ‘making a difference to people’s lives’, we not only stand by this philosophy in terms of the services we offer our customers but also how we operate within the communities that we serve,” says Maxxia State Manager for Western Australia, Rick Sherlock.
“We have built long-term partnerships with a number of organisations and are delighted to have the opportunity to support the incredible work they do. Donating to St John of God Foundation’s Cuddle Bed Campaign was a tangible way we could support those in our community with the purchase of such innovative and compassionate equipment”.
We look forward to continuing to provide updates on the roll out of Cuddle Beds across St John of God Health Care hospitals.