Snoezelen

Imagine being in a room filled with colored lights dancing on the walls, gentle sounds playing in the background, wonderful scents floating in the air, and bubble tubes, all designed to be soothing and stimulating but not overwhelming. Beautiful and fascinating to watch, sound and light walls paint an ever-changing light picture in harmony with the changing pitch and timbre of a variety of soothing music.  The room is warm, the chair is comfortable and you're surrounded by softness and calm.

Originally developed in the Netherlands in the 1970s, Snoezelen (pronounced snuzələn, a contraction of the Dutch "snuffelen", to seek out or explore, and "doezelen" to doze or snooze) rooms with controlled multisensory stimulation have been established in institutions all over the world for people with Alzheimer’s disease, other forms of dementia, depression and anxiety. We have seen consistent improvement across a wide spectrum of categories with a broad range of clients in effective state, cognition, communication, and functional behavior.

Snoezelen addresses both gross-motor competencies and emotional needs, with the goal to move each person toward the highest possible level of functioning. The activities help promote positive changes in behavior and soothe the stresses of everyday living. The program is designed to help a person who is idle or under stimulated become more interested in doing things, and to decrease problematic behaviors in someone who is over stimulated.

Lauren Jensen, manager of Memory Lane, is certified to use the Snoezelen techniques. Participants, accompanied by Lauren, are in the Snoezelen room three days a week for 30 minutes each, after which Lauren completes a response profile so each participant's experience continuously improves.