Carers Week Spotlight - The Mirror Effect– celebrating carer’s week.

1​2 June 2026

The Cedars Bourne, were delighted to receive two sensory companions recently from Ravenscourt, a cat and a dog, and in thanks to them and their associates TSA, we wanted to show how these amazing animatronics benefit our care team – across all departments.

In helping us further to “Get To Know Our Residents”, such a pivotal point in delivering great person-centred care, it became clear that looking at this from the opposing perspective was equally important and something to be shared. Having such aids means a great deal to the team, the sense of satisfaction garnered from seeing residents respond and smile, relax and communicate more openly gives a carer and unmatched sense of fulfilment. A knowing that a positive encounter makes things easier moving forward, increasing trust in a relationship… sharing together… resetting a mood… de-escalating a challenge… lifting loneliness…or simply and unconditionally “holding space”.

I asked a carer, “How do you find the sensory pets?” She reeled off a list of benefits to the residents she cares for – “No,” I said, “How do you find the sensory pets?” she smiled and nodding proceeded to tell me a story… Before long several members of the team were buzzing around me, interjecting with their experiences, and not just the care team – a member of housekeeping, one of our hostesses, our receptionist and a member of the activities team. They were all amazed by their naturalistic movements, sounds, touch and texture and motion response. Providing empathy in everyday life takes emotional understanding, patience and resilience and it was agreed that having the pets supported the team to do this in so many ways.

Carer Julie:

We have a lady, Janet, who doesn’t like personal care, she is very private and values her own space, but she will regularly forget to dress, change her clothes, wash etc, I found Tilly, the cat, so helpful in this scenario. Straight away she promoted conversation and interaction and relaxed Janet to the point we were speaking to each other through the cat. Not only did it help reduce her agitation, but mine too. Laughter ensued and everyday conversation became easier and so did the everyday task. When washed and dressed, calm and smiling, Janet said, “Tilly says, thank you but she thinks you can go now.”

Carer Sarah-Jayne:

I walked into the dining room and found Romy sat at the table, enchanted by the cat. Engaging and interacting together, just the two of them enjoying each other’s company. I found the scene so emotionally uplifting. Many of our residents miss their family pets and find great joy and solace with these beautiful robotic animals. I joined them and chatted to Romy, Tilly sparked a conversation allowing me to tap into Romy’s past and find out even more about her and her love of animals, it’s so important to know our residents, their likes, dislikes and what makes them who they are.

Activity Assistant Lisa:

During a community coffee morning, a relative was visiting with their grandchild, who was very overawed and wary of all the strange older faces in the room. One of our residents, Barbara, loves meeting younger children and, wasn’t understanding, why the child wasn’t happy to run over and meet her. Using Tilly as a bridge had a positive impact for me, she was at once a comfort and an intrigue and a way in for an introduction that didn’t feel threatening but fascinating and fun.

Often in the care of the elderly, words may be forgotten but feelings always remain.