DIANNE Barstowe is immersed in a pool of plastic balls, laughing as colourful lights shine up from between her feet while the soothing sounds of waves breaking softly on a distant beach resonate around the room.Miss Barstowe, who has severe learning disabilities, is one of eight patients who spend between ten and 15 minutes every day enjoying the benefits of the Snoezelen room at the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute (MWI).

The room was developed in 1996 to stimulate patients’ primary senses without the need for intellectual activity and benefits close to 50 patients with varying mental and physical disabilities.

Activities Co-ordinator, Juliette Basden has been working at the MWI since 1986, first as a student and then as a recreational therapist, and was involved in the development of the Snoezelen room.

“We started off with small objects from home like revolving lamps, a nightlight that revolved and changed colours and even Christmas lights ... back then the room was only about ten by six foot,” she recalls with a smile.

“We just wanted to create an atmosphere where our patients could try out new situations, or relax and experience their surroundings.”

The new, much larger room was opened in 1998 and Ms Basden says she has witnessed first-hand the benefits of spending time in the facility which relieves agitation and even evokes a feeling of happiness.

The word Snoezelen is a combination of the English “sniffing and dozing” and was originally developed in the Netherlands more than a decade ago.

Snoezelen is a collection of sensory experiences presented to an individual in an atmosphere of trust and relaxation and at MWI this includes an old-fashioned disco ball, bright colourful lights, fibre optics, the large ball pool, massaging mattresses and a hammock-type chair.

Ms Basden explains that the room was originally developed as a leisure experience for people who had severe learning and sensory disabilities, but is now used on a much wider scale.

“People with sensory, physical and intellectual disabilities gain from the wide variety of stimulation, as do those who have problems related to autism,” she says, adding that the elderly and “confused” who have a difficulty relating to existing environments or to demands made upon them, also appear to benefit from the basic primary sensory stimulation that Snoezelen offers.

During a tour of the facility earlier this week, the Mid-Ocean News met another patient who benefits from a daily dose of Snoezelen, Melanie Lightbourne.

Ms Basden explains that Miss Lightbourne is severely mentally and physically challenged, and receives one-on-one attention from Dorothy Ann Lacey, an occupational therapy assistant who gently rubs aromatherapy oils on Miss Lightbourne’s skin, stimulating not only her muscles, but also her sense of smell.

Nearby colourful fibre optics catch Miss Lightbourne’s eye and she blinks as they change colour from bright red to blue and green.

“We try and stimulate whatever senses she has, whereas on a ward she wouldn’t get that stimulation at all,” Ms Basden adds.

Miss Lightbourne and Miss Barstowe are just two of about 50 clients with varying disabilities who benefit from the room.

However in recent years those suffering from depression also appeared to benefit from spending time in the room.

“The ball pool is definitely one of the most exciting things for people who are depressed. They play with the balls and see the lights and it gives them a sense of joy,” Ms Basden explains.

She says the Snoezelen room is also used on occasion by the nearby Child and Adolescent Unit, Orange Valley and Orange Valley Day Care. And since opening more than 20 years ago, various organisations, including King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, Windreach Recreational Village and Hope Academy have added similar rooms to their facilities.

“There are so many stigmas attached to mental health and with the learning disabled population, and it’s exciting for me as a therapist to see other facilities create similar rooms — it means we are trailblazing and others are duplicating us,” she says.