June 29, 2023

A New Space is Soothing and Stimulating the Senses of Senior Patients

With support from St. Joseph’s Healthcare Foundation’s Patient Comfort & Kindness Grants, a new multi-sensory room offers an interactive therapeutic environment to create meaningful experiences and enhance overall patient well-being.

Earlier this month, staff from the Therapeutic Recreation program at St. Joe’s hosted an open house to celebrate the creation of a new multi-sensory room designed to support senior patients, including those living with Alzheimer’s, dementia or other physical and/or cognitive impairments.

The doorway leading to the sensory room stands out at the end of the hallway, where a lush floor-to-ceiling park landscape invites patients to enter and explore. “We selected this particular wall mural through patient engagement,” says Susy Marrone, Senior Recreation Therapist. “Our staff narrowed it down to a few photo options and invited our patients to make the final decision. They often tell us it reminds them of walking in Gage Park,” she adds.

Inside the room, under some port-hole wall decals that allow the viewer to peek into an underwater world, a nearby shelf holds a weighted baby, and a responsive animatronic dog and cat just waiting to be cuddled and held. These therapy dolls and stuffed animals offer realistic movements and sounds that resemble infants and real-life pet companions. With built-in sensors, they respond to motion and touch, inspiring smiles, fond memories and joy.

Thick bundles of flexible fiber optic strands lie across an armchair and can be bent in shapes for tactile stimulation. These coloured strands create a soothing, interactive experience that supports attention and focus.

Visits to this patient-centred space are facilitated by a staff member from the Therapeutic Recreation team. All of these outlets and amenities help our recreation therapists to support patients when they’re experiencing anxiety, agitation or when staff simply want to elicit positive emotion and make a patient’s time at St. Joe’s more engaging.

“This new space offers the opportunity for our senior patients to get out of their rooms, have a change of scenery and interact with others,” Susy explains. “The response to this space has been overwhelmingly positive and we are so grateful to the Foundation and donations from our generous community that allow us to create this relaxing therapeutic space to support our senior patients.”

To help bring comfort to St. Joe’s patients, make a gift today by joining our Comfort & Kindness Club. And for our readers who work at St. Joe’s, this year’s application window for a Patient Comfort and Kindness Grant opens in early July, so keep an eye out for an email coming your way soon!