Frankie’s eyes opened wide in wonder as he drank in the luminescent bubble columns and flashing lights set to the soothing sounds of splashing water.
The rooms are dedicated to the memory of Anna Cilia La Corte, one of the home’s first residents
Together with other residents of Id-Dar tal-Providenza, Frankie can now benefit from two new multisensory rooms at Villa Monsinjur Gonzi wing thanks to the Malta Community Chest Fund and money collected during a number of fundraising activities organised by the home for the handicapped.
The multisensory rooms, which cost about €80,000, are specially built areas that allow the residents to explore and hone their senses and skills in a safe environment.
Both rooms are equipped with hoists for wheelchair users, padded floors and walls and interactive equipment that induce dramatic changes to the sensory room environment using sound, lighting and fragrance. The dark room is a calming and soothing environment set on a dark scale with scintillating and fluorescent optic fibres and different tactile materials and fabrics.
It is suitable for hyperactive residents with challenging behaviour as well as visually impaired residents.
The white room serves the opposite purpose. It is suitable for residents with low muscle tone and low communication skills. It contains equipment that changes colour to the rhythm of clapping hands. It is also equipped with specially-vibrating beds and water mattresses.
Apart from the two multisensory rooms, a soft room (containing padded floors and walls) has been set up in the gym area that provides a safe environment for the residents to play in.
The rooms are dedicated to the memory of Anna Cilia La Corte, one of the home’s first residents who passed away in 1988.
The director of Id-Dar tal-Providenza, Fr Martin Micallef recalled that the very first regulations drafted by Mgr Mikiel Azzopardi, the home’s founder, stipulated that the home should not only provide food and shelter but also cater for the holistic well-being of its residents.
He said the multisensory rooms demonstrated the home’s commitment to provide quality services to its residents.
The rooms were inaugurated by President George Abela and blessed by Archbishop Paul Cremona.