Affiliations: [a] Department of Landscape Architecture, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA | [b] Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA | [c] Department of Biology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA | [d] Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ, USA | [e] Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Piscataway, NJ and Division of Life Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong
Correspondence:
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Correspondence to: Karl Herrup, Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Piscataway, NJ, USA. Tel.: +1 732 445 3306; E-mail: herrup@biology.rutgers.edu.
Note: [1] These authors contributed equally to this work.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine the responses of individuals with advanced dementia to two novel sensory environments in a nursing home facility. The first was a multisensory Snoezelen room; the second was a temporary Japanese garden. Subjects viewed each environment twice a week for 15 minutes during the study. Stress was measured using heart rate and informant-based behavioral changes. By these criteria, the garden-viewing group showed positive behavioral changes while the responses of the subjects in the Snoezelen group were more negative. The response of the subjects' pulse rate was most dramatic. During the 15 minutes in the garden, the average rate (all subjects/all visits) was significantly less than in their residential room. In the Snoezelen room, we detected little or no change. The impact of the garden could also be seen in the negative behavioral signs elicited upon returning the subjects to the garden room after the installation had been replaced with plants and furniture arranged with no formal design. We propose that exposure to a small interior Japanese garden could be an effective intervention for individuals suffering from late stage Alzheimer's disease.
Keywords: Dementia, heart rate, Japanese garden, nursing home, Snoezelen room
