Families who have a relative with a cognitive and/or sensory disability (conditions such as autism, dementia, Down syndrome or multiple sclerosis which affect > 15% of the population) want the provide the best of care to their loved ones. Therapeutic support is often available to people with disabilities at schools, care centres, hospitals, associations, but at home they are a bit on their own. Families struggle to connect with them, reinforce the work done during therapy or simply spend some quality time together.
Multi-sensory environments (MSEs) is a discipline of occupational therapy that helps treat cognitive and sensory deficiencies (in memory, attention, social interaction…). Through the combination of special lighting, multimedia and sensory devices (bubble tubes, optic fibre, vibro-acoustic mats…), these controlled environments help to relax, focus and stimulate them. The problem is that end-users (the person with disability and his/her family) can only benefit from MSEs for a very limited time, during a weekly visit at a school, a care centre or a hospital. These are places are outside their comfort zone and people with disabilities require a solution for their home.
The overall objective of MOMENTS is to bring the benefits of multi-sensory stimulation to the homes of people with disabilities. We aim to change the model of a weekly MSE therapy at a school or a hospital to a 24/7 access model that empowers families.