Edgemere offers memory patients relief with sensory-focused room
By Emily Zeigfinger
A scent specifically selected for Edgemere’s new Sensory Room evokes a calming olfactory response, welcoming residents and guests to a place created to ease agitation.
The senior community opened the room earlier this year and invited journalists to tour it on June 20, the longest day of the year.
In Texas, the summer solstice typically brings sun and heat, but on that day at Edgemere, the occasion took on added meaning.
Residents and guests gathered to play bridge in an event known as The Longest Day, which raises awareness for Alzheimer’s disease.
Neighborhood Spotlight
Park Cities
Where the Park Cities Stay Connected.
“The ‘longest day’ symbolizes the long days that those with Alzheimer’s — and their families — experience daily,” according to Edgemere.
Beyond raising awareness, Edgemere aims to enhance support for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease through its facilities.
The new Vitalize program, designed by Certus Living, will provide renovations and services for memory care residents, including a more secure courtyard, enhanced activity spaces, an updated front desk area, and the sensory room.
The sensory room “provides holistic treatments intended to ease agitation common to those experiencing dementia and often detrimental to family visits and medical treatment,” per Edgemere.
In addition to the calming scent, the room has relaxing dim lighting, a table with fidget toys that evoke all five senses, and a bubbling water tank.
The room also features a Nordic chair, where residents can sit with weighted blankets and relax as the seat, with its weighted touch points, “hugs” them.
“Many of our residents have led very full, very successful lives both professionally and personally. Yet in some memory care facilities, they are being handed child-like toys to stimulate their minds — or nothing at all,” executive director Teresa Bates said. “We are intent on pinpointing the needs and talents of each individual and customizing programming that brings purpose and connection to their lives, as well as dignity.”
Author
