This is what the multi-sensory room, called Snoezelen, looks like. A safe and relaxing environment where patients can take their minds off things and let go. “Through the different things that are offered, music, images or colors, these little things will help them feel better,” explains Stéphanie Serry, Manager, Addiction Treatment Services.
The initiative was funded by various foundations to the tune of $40,000. “We worked in collaboration with the hospital foundation and also the Maison Cap d’Espoir and the Jean Paul Ouellet foundation, which allowed us to do this great project.”
The concept comes from two therapists in the 1970s in Holland. The mission is to help patients relax, reduce pain and reduce anxiety. “It’s to help with recovery, we believe that it will help in managing cravings for consumption so they will be able to come and spend time in the room to meet up” continues Stéphanie Jessy.
Some will be able to enjoy a seated or lying down massage, escape to Paris or the beach with a slide show to music or even admire the cylindrical aquarium that changes colors. “It’s been shown through some studies that it’s beneficial for people||Different textures that can help them get through anxiety management. »
It is also an alternative to medication and patients will be able to find themselves in a place very different from a hospital ward. Many will try to forget their addiction for a session in this space. But the multi-sensory room will not be accessible to everyone.
“Patients will have to be assessed before benefiting from the room, for various reasons a patient cannot come, example someone who is having seizures or who has hallucinations of things like that so patients will be assessed beforehand before come into the room” reveals the head of the service.
This new service will come into effect during the month of March.
