Innovative hen-keeping project reduces loneliness and social isolation in older people

A project that encourages older people to keep hens is helping reduce social isolation and improving well-being.

The Equal Arts initiative, HenPower has been rolled out in Gateshead and the surrounding areas and is working to reduce loneliness in older people and help them to become involved with their local communities by encouraging hen keeping.

HenPower received funding from the Big Lottery Silver Dreams programme in 2012. The grant covered the initial funding required to set up the project which included introducing hens and encouraging activities within the communities of older people in and around the Gateshead area.

Douglas Hunter is director at Equal Arts, the charity responsible for HenPower. He said: “This flagship project is a great way of helping improve people’s well-being and changing stereotypes of the care provided for older people to be less passive and focus instead on participants having choices and making decisions.”

HenPower beneficial for men

HenPower was developed after research indicated that activities such as music, dance and craft making were aimed at female residents in a number of care settings. The introduction of hen-keeping saw male residents take an interest in becoming involved and looking after the hens.

HenPower project leader, Jos Forester-Melville and keeper of chickens, said: “The idea came about in 2012. A man at a dementia care centre (Shadon House, Gateshead) kept telling staff he was missing his 'girls'. Staff didn't know who he was referring to but then realised he was talking about his hens.

“Equal Arts was running its creative ageing sessions in the care setting at the time and the centre manager asked Douglas Hunter (Equal Arts director) if hens could be brought into the home. Equal Arts contacted DEFRA and after being given the go ahead brought six hens and the necessary equipment.”

The initiative is based around the North East of England and the group of volunteers from Gateshead responsible for keeping and looking after the chickens are known as ‘hensioners’. The group take their 20 hens to local care homes and schools to share their passion with others in the community.

Hensioners remain the owners of the chickens and are responsible for feeding and keeping them. Each project receives lottery funding for the first six months and is then maintained by care home contributions, fundraising and donations.

Hens were introduced to a group of older men and women at Wood Green sheltered housing in Gateshead during 2012. One of the residents, Pat Cain, who joined the HenPower initiative after the death of her husband, said: “I was determined to look after him but I was in my 70s and I knew I just couldn't do it. Then he developed dementia and sometimes he wouldn't even recognise me. I’d be at the home at 12pm every day to see him.

“Joining HenPower was strange at first, having to make myself do it because I needed to after Les died. When I first went to the lounge a man asked if I was new, I’d lived there three years. As a carer you can sometimes feel a bit invisible. You just blend in.”

Ms Cain added: “What I love about the hens and the project is that we go into schools and explain to children all about the chickens and it’s lovely to see how interested they are, they lean in and ask you all sorts of questions and we talk.”

Project boosts mental and physical activity

In an evaluation of the project carried out by Equal Arts, the charity acknowledges past and current applications of Animal Assisted Therapy in nursing homes, hospices and rehab centres for counselling and palliative care. Equal Arts identifies the benefits of Animal Assister Therapy in encouraging patients and residents to become both physically and mentally active.

The project received £1m funding from the Big Lottery Fund in 2014 and Equal Arts has been working since to expand the project to more care homes and care services within the UK.

Another ‘Hensioner’ from Wood Green, Alan Richards, said: “I love going into schools to meet the bairns. I’ve made friends with people aged four to 94 through doing the Hen Roadshows.

“I would never have believed in a million years our project could happen across the country, but we’re getting calls from all sorts of places. I just know other people will get as much enjoyment from keeping hens as us. Hens get me out the house and give our lives more purpose.”

'HenPower is based on empowering older people'

The project currently consists of almost 100 chickens and is active in 11 care homes and a number of other residential settings with a target of 100 locations by 2017.

Ms Forester-Melville said: “HenPower is a project based on empowering older people. We would roll the initiative out to schools where the initiative is led by an older people's group working with the school as part of transgenerational activities.”

Northumbria University carried out a 12 month study of those keeping hens as part of the project and found that the well-being of the residents improved, in addition, symptoms of loneliness and depression and the need for antipsychotic medication was reduced.

A care home specialising in dementia care in the North East of England, has reported a reduced need for the use of antipsychotic medication and has attributed this to the distraction that residents received from HenPower.

Karleen Taylor-Williams, manager of Philips Court care home in Gateshead, said: “In the home I manage, residents can sometimes have challenging behaviour, and working with HenPower has helped to bring a sense of calm. They are a brilliant visual and tactile distraction for the people who live here.”

HenPower hopes to create 100 projects across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in the future as well as starting projects both in and outside of Europe.

Ms Forester-Melville added: “HenPower has exceeded all expectations. There is real interest and enthusiasm among those residents we work with. It has been surprising how care staff, managers and residents’ families take to the project and enjoy it.”

The charity’s latest project, Creative Friends, is hoping to raise £10,000 to help bring together lonely older people whilst allowing them to express their creativity and personal interests and forge friendships.

Equal Arts have been working for the past 25 years to provide older people with the opportunity to become involved in the arts and reduce isolation through group art projects.

For more information on Equal Arts and HenPower, visit: www.equalarts.org.uk