SNOEZELEN in Sample Settings
SNOEZELEN is making a real, tangible difference in the quality of life of people with disabilities and other limiting conditions in schools, nursing homes, day programs, hospices, mental-health centers, and many other facilities. And, SNOEZELEN transcends age ranges and abilities to offer therapy professionals and caregivers the chance to discover how specially tailored, population-specific multisensory experiences can benefit individual clients. Whether used for therapeutic gain, motivation, encouragement, pain reduction, anger management, stress relief, or simply for recreational pleasure and relaxation, research validates that the absorbing environment created by SNOEZELEN can effect positive, real, and sometimes lasting change in mood, behavior, and relationships. Here are a few sample settings in which SNOEZELEN has proved to be a highly effective tool!
SNOEZELEN and Children with Special Needs
Throughout the world, more work has been done and more good achieved with special needs children than in any other area of SNOEZELEN practice. The body of experiential evidence of the benefits of SNOEZELEN for this client group is enormous and continues to grow.
In educational settings, SNOEZELEN rooms are being used as "neutral territory", where relationships can be established away from the stress of the classroom. At Addlington School in Reading, England, teaching staff find their sensory room an "invaluable resource…useful or a wide range of ages and abilities and a varied curriculum". A 1994 German study concluded, "SNOEZELEN causes an increase in motivation to succeed and an improvement in concentration and coordination."
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SNOEZELEN and Developmental Disability
Multisensory stimulation has been one of the most common and successful approaches to learning disability for some time, especially since it was established that sensory work has an impact in the educational, as well as, the therapeutic arena. SNOEZELEN is the logical development of well-documented work carried out over many years, taking advantage of new technologies not previously available.
There is a growing recognition of the need of clients with learning disabilities for leisure. The benefits of the nondirective undemanding SNOEZELEN approach are now both widely accepted and borne out by research. SNOEZELEN is being used in practice as a means of nonverbal communication as a setting for relaxation and self-healing and to provide stimulation for those who would otherwise be almost impossible to reach.
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SNOEZELEN and Mental Health
The relaxed, calming atmosphere or SNOEZELEN provides an ideal situation for the development of therapeutic relationships. As they experience the deep relaxation of SNOEZELEN, people suffering from tension, depression, or anxiety can open up to discuss feelings. This effect occurs while in the SNOEZELEN environment, but also continues for the rest of the day.
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SNOEZELEN and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
SNOEZELEN is also used to provide a "safe place" where children traumatized by violence, sexual abuse, or the effects of war can begin to communicate, regain confidence, and rebuild trusting relationships. Additional research has shown the capacity of SNOEZELEN to induce deep relaxation and improve sleep patterns in critically ill children.
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SNOEZELEN and Autism
SNOEZELEN has been found to be equally effective in working with people with autism or autistic characteristics. Research carried out in Brussels compared the behavior of nine adult clients with profound autism in both classroom and SNOEZELEN settings. Though individual results varied, the group results showed a fifty percent reduction in distress and stereotypical behavior, and seventy-five percent less aggression and self-injury in the SNOEZELEN environment.
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SNOEZELEN and Pain Control
Recently, caregivers have been turning to SNOEZELEN to provide relief from acute and chronic pain, and to help women relax, remain calm and focused during labor. Early observations indicate that the SNOEZELEN environment offers distraction from pain, a "rehumanizing" effect due to deep relaxation, and all the benefits of leisure which might not otherwise be available to pain sufferers.
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SNOEZELEN, Stroke, and Traumatic Brain Injury
The University Hospital of Ghent, Belgium found that the unique flexibility of SNOEZELEN produces excellent results. Here, therapists work one-on-one with young adults who have suffered severe brain damage through injury or stroke. The same SNOEZELEN equipment that stimulates passive individuals can also soothe those prone to agitation. SNOEZELEN allows the hospital to offer its patients a complete therapy package, addressing both gross-motor competencies and emotional needs, with the goal of moving each person toward the highest possible functional level. Practitioners throughout Europe have been using this multilevel approach with documented, positive results.
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SNOEZELEN and Aging
The second largest area of SNOEZELEN research looks at its utility for individuals with dementia. Some fine-tuning is required to achieve measurable results and a more sophisticated specification of the type and stage of dementia is needed. However, overall current findings paint a picture of consistent improvement across a wide spectrum of categories with a broad range of clients. Recent research projects in Great Britain and the Netherlands have replicated results, including improvement in affective state, cognition, communication, and functional behavior. Staff also give positive reports of SNOEZELEN and its effectiveness.
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