Innovative adult care charity Tapestry has recently reopened its sensory room at the HOPWA House Hornchurch HuB for usage following the lifting of Covid-19 social restrictions in England.
The sensory room is used as a special place for users living with dementia, allowing them to safely explore and stimulate all five senses. These rooms can be used for calming or stimulation, depending on the needs of the user.
Tapestry CEO, Anthony Lowe MBE, commented: “Customers have missed the sensory stimulation of their senses during the lengthy lockdown. Now once again a safe and therapeutic space, the room is back in use.”
The sensory room was built at Tapestry’s hub at HOPWA House in Hornchurch, following a £10,000 grant from Big Lottery Awards for All, and a further £4,000 from the Tesco Bags for Help fund.
The room uses gentle light, movement, music, and tactile objects designed to calm or stimulate individuals. While used more conventionally by younger adults and children with learning or physical disabilities, research has shown that people living with dementia can also benefit.
Lowe added: “Using gentle light, movement, music, tactile objects, familiar everyday objects, interesting things to smell and taste, we can trigger emotions and memories in people living with dementia who have lost their ability to connect with the world around them. This is called stimulation therapy.
“Sensory stimulation therapy uses everyday objects to arouse one or more of the five senses, with the goal of evoking positive feelings.”
Research suggests that sensory rooms can offer people living with dementia a means of expressing themselves when they can no longer do so with words, helping them relax and improving their mood, self-esteem, and wellbeing.
“Additionally, by drawing attention to a particular item, sensory stimulation encourages memories and responses”, Lowe explained.
“We engage the people we care for in sensory activities that are often linked to the interests they had prior to having a diagnosis of dementia and can help build a connection to everyday life. By introducing objects that the person living with dementia doesn't usually have around them, such as sand, seashells and other items associated with a day at the seaside we can evoke memories and bring enjoyment to the group or individual. This helps to reduce anxiety and increase social interaction through group activity.
“We also do activities that involved both the person living with dementia and their caregivers and loved ones. Those shared experiences and memories can help bring individuals back to a time that they remember fondly, which can help them feel meaningful again.”
