Snoezelen Training in Korea, Japan and Iraq

What an experience, ISNA's Snoezelen training was held in South Korea for the now 4ͭ ͪ cohort but this time in the brand-new Snoezelen room of the Seoul Community Rehabilitation Centre. The large centre already had a Snoezelen room which was initiated 10 years ago the by the now retired Sister Pieta but was in need of some urgent renovation. That finally happened in 2011/12. Engines of the optical equipment were replaced, switches of the bubble columns were repaired, new halogen lamps installed and new engines fitted where needed. Redundant equipment was disposed off, new curtains and cushion covers were sewn and a low noise air conditioning system was installed at the ceiling, making the room appear larger and more structured. To work in the room with small children and to some extent with their parents was already a pleasure.

But what did the completely new room (9.05mx7.10m) look like? We did use the room a year ago - but without any electrical equipment and even without mats - to complete one Snoezelen qualification and to begin a new one. During the last two days in May 2011 with the help of centre staff and a company new to the concept we were able to demonstrate how to assemble the equipment, working until late at night. Most of the bespoke platforms, the water-sound-bed and light equipment sent by the company Thieme arrived in Seoul by ship and in the last few days by plane. It was a busy period, toing and froing between Seoul and Grasleben. Floor plans and electrical plans were drawn, variations investigated and put in place to suit the conditions on site. The aim was to set up two rooms, linked through a sliding door. One of them was to be equipped with severely disabled people in mind housing a waterbed, fibre optics, three bubble columns with long platforms to sit or lie on as well as a mirror ball and liquid projector. The much larger room (6.05m x 7.10m) was intended for therapy and support groups as well as Snoezelen seminars (cf. floor plan). . A cosy corner close to the five bubble columns, grouped around a load bearing pillar was intended for mobility impaired and/or elderly people but also as a resting place that could be separated from the rest of the room with folding screens. As a whole the room appears open with the fibre curtains, mirror ball, special light and seating elements positioned at the front wall and the bubble columns in the corner . The liquid projector includes a rotating element, therefore every part of the room can be illuminated. With the help of a beamer pictures can be displayed and used especially for imaginative stories and to bring back memories. The pictures can be used to imagine a variety of situations such as being in a meadow, by a stream, in the woods or by the sea. Then there is the interesting view through the open sliding door onto the three bubble columns located in the smaller room with the waterbed.

Considering the wide range of target groups, all three rooms can be used to pursue different objectives - each can be used individually. Each of the rooms can be rearranged in creative ways by using fabrics, mobile light elements, scents and music to create a "different world". The participants learn and recognise that the room can be changed and that it is vital before the start of each session to think carefully about the settings of permanent equipment, the additional use of scents, the effects of colours, the correct music and choice of extra equipment. Mr. Valdiek from the company Thieme has been of great help. Over many months the music therapist Dr. Kyungran Lee has been the acting expert on room planning and design in Korea. All year throughout the planning and installation of the room the three of us stayed in contact via internet or telephone. 

Such an investment cannot be realised without the consent of the management of the rehabilitation centre. I have great admiration for Sister Secunda Park. She was open to our ideas and through consultations with her staff and keeping informed about Snoezelen and latest developments she recognised the need to invest in Snoezelen rooms and training of the staff and the impact that will have on the wellbeing of the patients and the staff. For this year and years to come the ideal conditions for therapy and support as well as training opportunities have been created within the rehabilitation centre. Course participants, mainly graduates from the fields of psychology, medicine, ergo- and physiotherapy, social pedagogy and social care professions, come from all over South Korea. The management and staff of the rehabilitation centre indentify with the intervention method and make sure that only people who have successfully completed the additional qualification Snoezelen are allowed to practice Snoezelen with their patients. During a reception at the German embassy on the 22.05.2012 we were able to introduce our work to the ambassador. It is a pleasure to work with so many enthusiastic colleagues in South Korea. Many interested people visit the room throughout the year but particularly on the annual open day in May, finding inspiration to create similar rooms in their facilities.

  The rooms were also installed with the 12th International Congress of the" International Snoezelen Association ISNA" in mind which will take place in Korea. The management of the rehabilitation centre in Seoul, Sister Secunda Park, will come and join us in Maria Bildhausen at the 10th International Congress of ISNA to introduce her facility and her country. Now it's a good time to plan your holiday in South Korea before or after the congress in September or October 2014. Only 50km south of Seoul you will find parts of an UNESCO world heritage site with fortresses, temples and burial sites. 180km east of Seoul you find a beautiful alpine landscape, Pyeongchang, the host for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

In 2012 Hiroshi Anezaki, Professor at the department of special needs education at Mie University and longstanding member of ISNA, founded the "International Snoezelen Association Japan 'All Japan Snoezelen Society" in Japan. At the opening ceremony Prof. Dr. Krista Mertens addressed more than 100 participants, talking about "Snoezelen - from practical experiences to scientific application". That was followed by an hour long opportunity for discussion amongst colleagues mainly from nursery schools, primary schools and special needs education and to talk about the upcoming training opportunity in 2013. For the first time the additional qualification will be taught in Japan, with preliminary events starting in May 2013, followed by the modules I and II in November.  

In December 2009 as part of the program "Strategic academic partnership" run by the German academic exchange service (DAAD) a weeklong conference took place at the Humboldt University, providing representatives from the ministries of higher education health, psychology, rehabilitation, labour and social affairs from Iraq with an insight into rehabilitation sciences with emphasis on aspects of special needs education. One of the aspects was Snoezelen. As part of the conference a twinning arrangement between the Humboldt University and the government if Iraq was signed. In the meantime two years have passed but that doesn't mean we have been idle as work continues, says Prof. Dr. Mertens. The university's Snoezelen room that was sponsored 15 years ago by the company Thieme is currently being shipped to a large rehabilitation facility in Iraq. Colleagues over there are awaiting the start of the additional qualification Snoezelen, set to start beginning of 2013.

Krista Mertens