Originally developed in the Netherlands in the 1970’s, Snoezelen Rooms are filled with various pieces of sensory equipment. They’re popping up around the world and are especially common in Europe.  The word “snoezelen” comes from the Dutch words for snoozing and sniffing.  And, anyone – not just Cypress Cove residents  -- can do both in the new 200-square-foot room the facility created in November out of a former spa.

Colorful Acrylic Bubble Tubes



Recreational Therapist Theresa Farrell says the room’s mission is to calm the restless and stimulate the passive.  Farrell says its focal point is four acrylic tubes that stretch nearly from floor to ceiling filled with rising bubbles that change color. 

“And, I’ve really noticed that the bubble tubes help to sooth and relax a lot of our agitated residents. A lot of times they like to mimic the motion of the bubbles going up and down. We offer various types of wireless devices where they can actually change the colors if they like,” she says.

Lyle Olsen, a 79-year-old with memory problems, says the tubes are his favorite thing in the Snoezelen Room “because just whatever it is inside those tubes is relaxing just to look at it and the different colors then too go back and forth again is relaxing.”

The retired accountant, who, as the CFO for Bloomington, Minnesota helped build the Mall of America, has been experiencing difficulty remembering certain things. So, his wife Audrey says she makes sure he comes here weekly.

“It was something we can do together,” she says. “We both felt really good afterwards.”

“If you wanted to come in here and really unwind and relax this would be the place to do it,” says Olsen, sitting in his wheelchair.

Reaching All Senses  



Scent, music and color are very important in the Snoezelen Room. The colors in the bubble tubes are bold and bright – green, blue, red and yellow.   They might be hard for some of us to look at for more than a few minutes.  But Cypress Cove’s Healthcare Administrator Jay Groesser says it’s just the opposite for Olsen.

“As we age the ability of the eye to take in light diminishes dramatically from when you’re younger,” he says. “So what may appear to a younger eye to be bright for someone that’s aged it’s not that bright to them. It does stimulate and help them.”

The room is set up the way clients like it. That’s called a sensory diet. In Olsen’s case for example, if he reacts well to aromatherapy, a spray of his favorite scent may be misted throughout.  He can bring his own music or Farrell can choose to play music Olsen likes while he’s in the room.  There is a special kind of organ with flat, round keys that Olsen doesn’t even have to touch to make sounds.  Farrell says it helps him control his environment and practice reaching out.  For people with Alzheimer’s, she says it can provide even more stimulation.

“The average person touches 300 surfaces every 30 minutes and a person who has late stage dementia only touches one to five surfaces within the same time frame so you can bring an environment to them that provides that stimulation that they aren’t receiving on a daily basis,” she says.

The room also includes things Olsen is encouraged to use to stimulate his hearing and fine motor control such as a rain stick and a chime xylophone.   

Does It Work?  



Cypress Cove’s former nursing home administrator had the vision to bring a Snoezelen Room here. Making the room a reality was the result of donations from resident families, literal bake sales and funding from a local foundation that covered the $30,000 cost. Farrell says they’re first focusing on residents who show high levels of agitation, behavioral disturbances, depression or apathy.   

“For those who are more socially isolated I really want them to be more engaged in meaningful activities. And for those that are agitated I would love to see results where they can actually engage in the regularly scheduled activities,” she says.

Farrell says it works. And, behavioral neurologist and Division Chief for Behavioral Neurology at the University of Florida, Dr. Glen Finney, says although there is very little literature on the Snoezelen Room’s use in dementia, what exists appears promising.

“It did show some small amount of benefit in those studies for basically helping things like agitation and people’s apathy which is a huge symptom of Alzheimer’s disease,” says Finney.

He says any stimulus is the key as it encourages the brain to try to heal itself.

“That would be a theoretical model, that the multi-sensory stimulation may help stimulate the strengthening or even formation of connections in the brain. It very well could be a useful thing to study for Alzheimer’s and other dementia patients,” says Finney.

The community can use Cypress Cove’s new Snoezelen Room. And, access to other such rooms shouldn’t be hard to find. A Pennsylvania-based Snoezelen equipment vendor says there are about 500 in Florida and a few thousand installations across the United States in hospitals, rehab centers, hospices and all kinds of other facilities.