Retirement village visitors reported feeling relaxed and carefree after spending time in the Snoezelen multi-sensory room at Rand Aid’s Thembalami Care Centre.
Snoezelen equipment incorporates sound, smell, movement, light and texture to expose a person to stimuli in a comfortable environment, and has several therapeutic uses.
The term Snoezelen is a contraction of the Dutch verbs ‘snuffelen’ (to seek and explore) and ‘doezelen’ (to relax).
According to its website, “Snoezelen can aid development, help to relax an agitated person or stimulate and raise alertness levels of someone who has sensory processing disorders.”
Thembalami Care Centre celebrated the opening of its Snoezelen room just ahead of World Alzheimer’s Month, which is commemorated annually in September. Most of the funds to establish the room came from the estate of a former Rand Aid Inyoni Creek resident, Sully O’Sullivan.
Thornhill Manor Retirement Village, which is also Rand Aid-run, held several awareness and fundraising events to commemorate World Alzheimer’s Month. The biggest of these events was an Alzheimer’s walk involving both Thornhill Manor and Thembalami residents.
Part of the money raised from these events was donated to Thembalami’s Snoezelen room. “We used the funds to buy interactive toys designed to be accessible and engaging for individuals with varying abilities,” says Karen Griessel, Thornhill Manor’s social worker.
Karen and Vicky Keenan, a retired occupational therapist who lives at Thornhill Manor and volunteers her time to Rand Aid, were keen to see and experience the room for themselves and recently visited the care centre, along with two other village residents.
“Our residents were in awe of the room, which can in turn be either stimulating or relaxing. They reported a decrease in anxiety, worries and concerns,” says Karen.
Karen says that Snoezelen equipment is often used for Alzheimer’s and dementia care because it creates a safe, mood-enhancing environment.
Vicky, who is the driving force behind Thornhill Manor’s occupational therapy (OT) group Happy Chatters and who knows her way around a DIY workshop, also contributed some of her hand-crafted OT games.
“She gathered quite the crowd, with Thembalami residents playing games and enjoying themselves. It was a wonderful morning of laughs, with faces lit up with smiles and plenty of socialising,” says Karen.
“Snoezelen therapy is used daily at Thembalami, more specifically for our residents living with dementia, and the majority respond most positively to the experience,” says the care centre’s social worker, Lara Hurwitz.
Thornhill resident Ann Goodfellow (seated); Thornhill Manor social worker Karen Griessel; Virginia Qoma, Ann’s caregiver; and Thornhill residents Lee Schierenberg and Vicky Keenan.
Showing off some of the donations is Thembalami Care Centre’s occupational therapy assistant Lee-Ann Ramathibela.
Thornhill Manor resident Lee Schierenberg enjoys the Snoezelen room.
Vicky Keenan with Thembalami resident Carol Schneider.
Thembalami resident Gertrude Xabanisa enjoys interacting with Thornhill Manor resident Vicky Keenan, who is a retired OT.
Let the games behind… Vicky Keenan (standing) with fellow Thornhill Manor resident Lee Schierenberg and Thembalami resident Elizabeth Andrews.
One of Vicky Keenan’s hand-made games is ‘Feed the clown’, which she enjoyed playing with Themblami residents.
