Villa Alamar and Alexander Gardens Stimulate the Senses to Stimulate Wellness

Villa Alamar and Alexander Gardens Stimulate the Senses to Stimulate Wellness

Sensory Program Keeps Spirits High at These Two Memory-Care and Assisted-Living Facilities 

By Leslie Dinaberg

‘When we engage all the senses, we engage ourselves.’

—Charlotte Moss

‘I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in tune once more.’

—Thomas Marcoux Steele

An innovative sensory stimulation program — involving nature, scents, sounds, and colors to constantly provide pleasant sensory stimuli that promote wellness — helps assisted-living and memory-care residents at Villa Alamar (villaalamar.com) and Alexander Gardens (alexandergardensal.com) maintain their high spirits and positive outlook. Developed by owner/partner/administrator Mitch Leichter, this Sensory Integration Program for the Advanced Stages of Dementia is seeing great success. 

“Our staff is consistently engaging the residents in a proactive manner, where in the past it was reactive,” reported Leichter. “The staff has learned how to interpret body language from nonverbal residents and have implemented appropriate reminiscent and redirection opportunities predicated on sensor stimuli criteria. In many incidents, an increase in medication has not been needed for some residents experiencing behavioral situations, and in other cases, medications have actually been decreased.”

Leichter explained more about the program to me below, and what follows is a portion of our conversation, edited for clarity and length.