Centre gives elderly new lease of life with sensory treatments

Elderly victims of stroke and dementia are having their senses revived through multi-sensory stimulation treatments at the Haven of Hope Sister Annie Skau Nursing Home, thanks in part to financial support last year from Operation Santa Claus.

Under its Eden Project, the home has created a multi-sense-stimulating environment for elderly patients with sensory integration problems, dementia and depression, as well as for those suffering from loss of function caused by brain damage, such as after a severe stroke or in cases of Parkinson's disease.

The project's facilities cater to all the senses - sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch - as well as the more complex problems of equilibrium and the co-ordination and movements of joints and muscles. This in turn improves patients' emotional stability and sense of well-being.

Teresa Lau Lai-ping, the nursing home's service manager, said the Eden Project was a big step forward in sensory treatments for the elderly.

'You can give them two hours or three hours per day of sensory treatment, but the effect could be diluted or nullified once the patients return to a normal environment, where people are not paying extra attention to their needs in terms of the senses,' she said.

'They need to stay in an environment where every detail and every person is sensitive to their sensory needs.'