It is important to find ways to help individuals with dementia live a full, enriched life. We all want to stay connected and maintain our relationships with loved ones living with dementia. Here at Iris Memory Care, we’ve put together some helpful information on how to keep your loved one’s calm, interactive, and engaged through sensory stimulation.
What is Sensory Stimulation?
Sensory stimulation is the activation of one or more of the senses including taste, smell, vision, hearing, and touch. It can range from something as simple as a hand massage with scented lotion or listening to a playlist of favorite music to more complicated activities designed to provide a sensory experience. It can help people with dementia call up positive memories and emotions, and encourage them to communicate and engage with the people around them.
Why People with Dementia Need it
Our brains and nervous systems are a constant hum of electrical activity, and they respond to the world around them. On brain scans, we see areas of the brain light up in response to different kinds of stimulation. Interaction with the world around us is what our bodies are designed to do, and we need stimulation to thrive. While most of us are used to a barrage of sensory stimulation from everyday activities such as going to the grocery store, walking the dog, or working with our hands, this is not the case for many people living with dementia.
As dementia progresses, a sense of fear, isolation, and confusion can prevent people with memory loss from experiencing sensory stimulation in their everyday lives. The more advanced stages of dementia bring with them challenges in communicating, as well as more physical manifestations of the disease like difficulty with mobility. Consequently, people with dementia, whose brains are slowly losing synapses, also begin to experience a loss of the sensory stimulation due to the isolation and confusion, as well as physical limitations they face.
Benefits of Sensory Stimulation
By giving people with dementia a way to express themselves other than words, sensory stimulation can help them relax and improve their overall mood, self-esteem, and well-being. For example, if a senior living with dementia was born and raised near the beach, an item as small as a seashell can bring back memories of their childhood home. Simply feeling the texture and weight of the shell in their hands or bringing it up to their ear can strengthen their cognitive abilities without even knowing it.
In addition to evoking positive feelings, sensory stimulation can also help people with dementia communicate. By using certain objects, sensory stimulation can help seniors who are struggling to communicate and relate to the world around them ask questions, respond to verbal clues, or remain calm in a stressful situation. Other benefits of sensory stimulation include:
- Improving cognitive symptoms and maintaining daily function
- Encouraging participation in social groups
- Opportunity for reflection and trips down memory lane
- Increased concentration and alertness
- Easing communication
Sensory Stimulation Activities
For the most part, sensory stimulation activities work best when they’re linked to interests the person had prior to dementia to help rebuild a connection to everyday life. It’s important to tailor the activities to each specific person, taking into account their individual needs and preferences. Depending on whether someone is in early or more advanced stages of memory loss, some activities are more suitable and appropriate than others. Sensory stimulation activities can include:
- Bringing in objects the senior doesn’t normally have around
- Giving a gentle hand massage
- Taking a short walk outdoors to provide a change of scenery
- Talking or reading aloud to the senior
- Organizing pets to come for visits
- Cooking their favorite meal
- Play games such as “Guess the Smell.” Fill small, airtight containers with cinnamon, nutmeg, thyme, basil, and others.
- Create a Sensory Box.” This is simply a box filled with personalized items precious to the individual - knick-knacks, holiday photos, an old driver’s license, favorite perfume, awards, religious mementos, and anything else dear to the person.
Sensory stimulation is intended to bring joy to people living with dementia, reduce anxiety and depression, and increase communication. If you’re ever looking for more tips on how to engage with your loved one, visit our blog at Iris Memory Care.
FAQs
Sensory stimulation is the practice of using everyday sounds, foods, objects and other items to awaken the senses and elicit a positive response or feeling. This technique is often used to help seniors with Alzheimer's or dementia because it can help them stay in the moment and interact with their current surroundings.
Why is sensory stimulation important in dementia? ›
Stimulating the senses of a person with dementia may lead to positive outcomes including helping them: Relax and feel safe. Increase levels of concentration and cognitive function. Feel content with the opportunity to recall past experiences and happy memories.
What is the purpose of sensory stimulation? ›
Sensory stimulation is the input and sensation you receive when one or more of your senses is activated. This type of stimulation is important for infant development and can be used to improve the well-being of developmentally disabled adults, people with neurocognitive disorders, and older adults.
What kind of stimulation do dementia patients need? ›
Sensory stimulation activities can include: Bringing in objects the senior doesn't normally have around. Giving a gentle hand massage. Taking a short walk outdoors to provide a change of scenery.
What is the number one trigger for dementia behavior? ›
Pain or Discomfort: General pain, side effects from medications, lack of sleep, and inability to describe their discomfort are all common symptoms that can trigger aggressive behavior or lashing out. Environment: This is the most common trigger for aggressive behavior in dementia patients.
What is sensory stimulation for the elderly? ›
Sensory stimulation is activation of one or more of our five senses: vision, touch, hearing, smell, and taste. Activation can take many forms, from calming activities, like listening to or playing music, to activities with stimulating colors, images, and lights, or playing basic board games.
What sensation is most important to clients with dementia? ›
The sense of smell is closely linked with memory, possibly more so than any of our other senses, and declining smell sensitivity can foreshadow dementia.
Why do people seek sensory stimulation? ›
Sensory seeking: What it is and how it looks
Kids who sensory seek may look clumsy, be a little too loud or seem to have “behavior issues.” Sensory input can help stimulate kids to feel less sluggish. It can also soothe an “overloaded system” and help kids feel more organized in their own bodies and in space.
What is the function of sensory stimulation behavior? ›
Sensory stimulation (also known as sensory needs) is the final function of behavior. Sensory stimulation occurs when children want to experience a pleasant sensation or replace discomfort. Children may also seek stimulation to sensitize or desensitize, depending on their sensory needs.
How does the brain impact sensory stimulation? ›
The brain can pull in information from memory as it decides how to respond to incoming sensory information. Sensory information is also stored as part of a memory. When we remember a specific place or scene or picture something in our minds, sensory processing areas in the brain become activated.
Here are some Don'ts:
- Don't reason.
- Don't argue.
- Don't confront.
- Don't remind them they forget.
- Don't question recent memory.
- Don't take it personally.
Noise, conversation, crowds and activity may be over-stimulating and too difficult to process or understand. Also, many people with dementia rely on others for emotional cues. For example, if you are anxious and worried, many people with dementia will mirror your emotions and become anxious and worried.
What technique is used to calm a person with dementia? ›
Eye contact is particularly important when calming down a person with dementia. Eye contact is a powerful method of showing that you're listening and that you understand your loved one. Eye contact, while providing reassurance using calm phrases can help a person with dementia relax and feel safer in their environment.
What triggers dementia to get worse? ›
What triggers dementia to get worse? Dementia is a progressive disease, so it will gradually get worse over time. However, external factors, such as a brain injury or sudden change in routine, can trigger a sudden worsening of dementia symptoms.
What are the three golden rules of dementia? ›
SPECAL sense begins with three Golden Rules: Don't ask direct questions. Listen to the expert – the person with dementia – and learn from them. Don't contradict.
What do dementia eyes look like? ›
You can't tell whether someone has dementia by looking in their eyes. However, vision loss commonly occurs among people with dementia. It's not clear whether vision loss causes dementia or vice versa. It may be that both sight loss and dementia are more common among older adults.
How does sensory stimulation improve daily functions in Alzheimer's disease? ›
Studies have shown that sensory stimulation can effectively improve the cognition and memory of AD patients, and its role in brain plasticity and neural regulation is initially revealed.
What are the benefits of sensory and multisensory stimulation in Alzheimer's disease? ›
Results show these sensory and multisensory stimulations can effectively ameliorate the pathology of AD, arouse memory, and improve cognition and behaviors. What's more, it can cause brain nerve oscillation, enhance brain plasticity, and regulate regional cerebral blood flow.
What are the sensory effects of dementia? ›
How Dementia Affects the 5 Senses, and What That Means for Caregivers. Dementia can blunt a person's ability to smell, taste, see, hear, and feel. That can make caring for them challenging. Most people are aware that dementia involves the loss of cognitive abilities.
How does the sensory stimulate cognitive development? ›
Sensory play encourages learning through exploration, curiosity, problem solving and creativity. It helps to build nerve connections in the brain and encourages the development of language and motor skills.
