THE DUTCH CONCEPT of the Snoezelen Room, which has been used at St Brendan's Hospital, Grangegorman, and the Central Mental Hospital, Dundrum, in association with Calypso Productions, since 2000, integrates an environment designed to deliver multi-sensory stimuli - through lighting, colour, sound and scent - with artistic interventions such as weekly meetings featuring poetry, readings, singing and music.

Una Murphy, clinical nurse manager at the Special Care Unit of St Brendan's, says that the benefits to those who attend the Snoezelen Room are cognitive, social, emotional and physical, including "improved self-confidence, improved concentration and relaxation, and distraction from mental distress".

But the Snoezelen Room also has social benefits, encouraging clients to "form new relationships, with actors" and providing them with "entertainment and fun".