Intervention in the cognitive, affective, and functional sphere in dementia, from occupational therapy applied in room Snoezelen.

Abstract

Introduction: Ageing is a natural process which is accompanied by a gradual decline of both functional, cognitive and affective capacities which can make it hard for somebody to lead a normal daily life in a normal way since the performance is influenced and cognitive, sensorial, motor and emotional skills can be altered. Non-pharmacological interventions are very important when it comes to cover the various problems that the elderly present. Snoezelen therapy or multisensorial stimulation is highly relevant for patients with dementia and cognitive damage with the aim of creating interaction between the person, the task and the environment by means of the activation of the various senses, experimenting different types os feelings. Aim: To prove the effect that an occupational therapy intervention has on a Snoezelen environment as a means to boost cognitive, sensorial, motor and emotional skills on patients with minor, moderate and severe cognitive damage and its repercussion on their quality of life. Methodology: It deals with a quasi-experimental study with a pre and post assessment, data are collected by means of MMSE, Barthel and Cornell tools.
Results: After carrying out the corresponding statistic analysis, no significative results at a cognitive, affective and functional level were found, except at the affective level where severe damage was found.
Discussion: Although this article does not show the effectiveness of the intervention in a Snoezelen environment in a significant way, various studies prove its effectiveness, particulary at a cognitive and behavioural level.
Conclusion: The results seem to denote that an intervention in a Snoezelen environment during a short time span does not show any type of repercussion.