An older man is drawing using coloured pens at a table that is covered in art supplies. In the backgrounds there are other tables with different people sat at them.

How can sensory experiences help those living with dementia?

Introduction

Professor Victoria Tischler has carried out extensive research into whether sensory experiences can improve quality of life for people living with dementia. 

Learn about the development of the Imagination Cafe, a multi-sensory experience designed for people with dementia and their loved ones; her work transforming care homes to improve quality of life for residents and her collaboration with Boots using scent and other experiences to stimulate memories and positive conversation. 

Using sensory experiences to improve recall and appetite

In the background, three women are singing in polka-dot dresses into retro microphones. In the foreground, woman with their backs turned to the camera dance.

Since 2017, the Imagination Cafe has been a place for people with dementia and their loved ones to come together in Ealing and other locations around the UK to take part in different activities such as listening to music, getting creative and enjoying a good cup of tea. 

The Imagination Cafe developed from the idea that tying together sight, sound, taste and smell in one experience could help to improve quality of life for people with dementia.  These kinds of experiences can lead to improved recall and encouraged appetite. 

An older man is drawing using coloured pens at a table that is covered in art supplies. In the backgrounds there are other tables with different people sat at them.

It provides an accessible and welcoming space for people with dementia and their family supporters, reducing the stigma associated with the condition. 

Members of the public enjoy the Café as they can find out more about dementia and get expert advice. It showcases the evidence on the use of arts and creativity for people with dementia, which includes enhancing mood, supporting communication and improving attention.

Visitors are also amazed when they see beautiful artwork made by people living with dementia on display. This provides hope and challenges the negative stereotypes that people have about dementia. 

Using smell to stimulate memory

In collaboration with Sophie Clapp, lead archivist at Boots, and Professor Tom Dening from the University of Nottingham, Victoria developed sensory boxes featuring items from the Boots archive such as fragrances, photos and medicine jars.  

These boxes have been used in care homes, with the aim of stimulating interesting discussions and promoting positive feelings. 

Working with the Boots company since 2014, Victoria has researched the multi-sensory potential of archives to support people living with dementia. 

Boots are also supporting the work of Federica d'Andrea, a PhD student at the University of West London, who is exploring the use of olfactory stimulation for people with dementia. 

Victoria's interest in working with scent peaked after she and colleagues completed a small study on the subject in Nottingham. The study indicated positive results when handling objects that had a particular scent such as the stimulation of meaningful conversation. 

In recent years, she has partnered with Givaudan - a multi-nation fragrance and taste manufacturer. The company support Victoria's work through providing smell kits to use in her public engagement events, for example during Dementia Awareness Week at libraries around Ealing.

Creating stimulating care home environments

A model of the Devonshire day care centre

Care homes are generally very functional places, but small changes can help to improve the lives of those who live there.  Simple adjustments like redesigning the tea-room to incorporate art can make a huge difference to the experience of living in a care home.  

Victoria placed artists in residence in two care homes, aiming to enhance the environment and to improve the culture of care by supporting staff to engage with creative activities. Both homes engaged with the artists beyond their initial contracts. In one, a brief to redesign a single room was extended so that the artist, a theatre designer, redesigned the entire day care facility. 

The tea room in Devonshire dar care centre, In the foreground there is a table set up for afternoon tea, in the background there is a wall designed to look like a tea shop front with the words "Lyons and Co Ltd".

Loukia Minetou is a theatre designer whose original brief was to design a 50’s style tea room in a care home in Surrey. Loukia spent six months doing research about dementia in order to respond, including attending seminars about dementia research at UWL.  

The care home team were so impressed with Loukia’s design that she was invited to design several other rooms in the day care centre. The team there are very pleased and proud of the results which are enjoyed daily by their residents and day care attendees living with dementia. 

A table and chairs in a care home with objects designed to encourage different sensory experiences on it.

Loukia used different objects and pieces of art to create sensory experiences for the visitors. 

The surfaces of the objects on the table offer a skin friendly area for exploration for the visitors with restricted mobility. It is sculptured with different sizes and shapes of wooden cavities and volumes so to provide a combination of paths for the fingers as well as pathways to move objects.

The garden of Devonshire day care centre. There are plants going in the foreground, and a bus stop and red telephone box in the background.

The garden is designed to offer both a garden and a street experience. The phone box has an interactive phone, letters can be posted in the post box and day visitors are in charge of growing and harvesting vegetables. 

The tea room in Devonshire dar care centre, In the foreground there is a table set up for afternoon tea, in the background there is a wall designed to look like a tea shop front with the words "Lyons and Co Ltd".

One of the rooms is dedicated to the 1950’s Lyons Tea Room and has multiple uses: special tea occasions, lunch and other activities such as playing board games.

A sitting room with four red chairs and a number of suitcases.

Loukia used themed suitcases to encourage movement in the space for visitors with non-restricted mobility. The suitcases contain different memory kits to remind visitors of activities such as travelling, drawing, baby dressing, typewriting, and beauty essentials. 

A table and chairs in a care home with objects designed to encourage different sensory experiences on it.

Loukia used different objects and pieces of art to create sensory experiences for the visitors. 

The surfaces of the objects on the table offer a skin friendly area for exploration for the visitors with restricted mobility. It is sculptured with different sizes and shapes of wooden cavities and volumes so to provide a combination of paths for the fingers as well as pathways to move objects.

The garden of Devonshire day care centre. There are plants going in the foreground, and a bus stop and red telephone box in the background.

The garden is designed to offer both a garden and a street experience. The phone box has an interactive phone, letters can be posted in the post box and day visitors are in charge of growing and harvesting vegetables. 

The tea room in Devonshire dar care centre, In the foreground there is a table set up for afternoon tea, in the background there is a wall designed to look like a tea shop front with the words "Lyons and Co Ltd".

One of the rooms is dedicated to the 1950’s Lyons Tea Room and has multiple uses: special tea occasions, lunch and other activities such as playing board games.

A sitting room with four red chairs and a number of suitcases.

Loukia used themed suitcases to encourage movement in the space for visitors with non-restricted mobility. The suitcases contain different memory kits to remind visitors of activities such as travelling, drawing, baby dressing, typewriting, and beauty essentials. 

A table and chairs in a care home with objects designed to encourage different sensory experiences on it.
The garden of Devonshire day care centre. There are plants going in the foreground, and a bus stop and red telephone box in the background.
The tea room in Devonshire dar care centre, In the foreground there is a table set up for afternoon tea, in the background there is a wall designed to look like a tea shop front with the words "Lyons and Co Ltd".
A sitting room with four red chairs and a number of suitcases.
A table and chairs in a care home with objects designed to encourage different sensory experiences on it.
The garden of Devonshire day care centre. There are plants going in the foreground, and a bus stop and red telephone box in the background.
The tea room in Devonshire dar care centre, In the foreground there is a table set up for afternoon tea, in the background there is a wall designed to look like a tea shop front with the words "Lyons and Co Ltd".
A sitting room with four red chairs and a number of suitcases.

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