In Clinton, Iowa, near the Mississippi, you can find Addlington Place of Clinton, an Assisted Living and Memory Care community nestled in a friendly neighborhood. Here, sensory engagement is one of several key senior engagement ideas in our dementia-friendly programs, promising enrichment for older adults in our community.
Whether through touch, sound, sight, or taste, we offer a range of experiences that can boost engagement and reduce agitation for many of our residents, lifting moods and offering opportunities for greater socialization.
To support both assisted living wellness and memory care in Clinton, our team uses activities tailored specifically to each person's history and preferences. Doing this means that people can get the comfort of the familiar while also trying something they may never have done before.
Forms of sensory engagement include activities that activate the brain's ability to feel the world around it:
Engaging with these can often help ground an individual, reducing stress or agitation. Activities that use these senses can, thus, support participation on a larger scale, even for those in Memory Care. However, it is essential to remember that these may have changed in someone's senior years, and avoiding causing distress is vital.
It is vital to keep sense-based sessions brief, however. Instead of longer activities, try using brief sessions with repeatable routines. Along with familiar cues, such as songs, or using a resident's preferred pen, help them to find something they like in what they experience.
Instead of engaging someone with a single activity, try activating multiple senses at once. A study by Octary (2025) even suggests that these multisensory activities can stimulate sufficient areas of the brain toreduce agitation in seniors with dementia.
Examples of these should be safe and likely to lift the mood without offering risks to the individual trying them out. For example:
These can often lead to small gains, which staff should document in a resident's care plan.
Staff will match the complexity and choices in an activity to an individual's capabilities as their dementia progresses. For example:
Early stages: Residents will enjoy greater choice and plan how they engage with multisensory activities.
Middle stages: Offering shorter tasks helps avoid overwhelming the resident, but familiar choices can still be a good way to engage. For example, asking which music someone would like to hear.
Late stages: Comfort takes center stage at this point, and engaging only one key sense at a time may help avoid triggering discomfort.
Similarly, many of the methods used in mindfulness activities are ideal for engaging the senses at any stage. For example, simply focusing on one's breathing and counting the things one can see, hear, or feel is a perfect example of this. However, staff and families should be aware that these can often be slow, and those with late-stage dementia may be more easily distracted at this time.
Yes, sensory activities do differ from those in therapy. However, there is also overlap.
We plan these activities, allowing a trained team member overseeing residents' care plans to lead them, so that they have a good understanding of what will be best for each individual. During sessions, our goals include
As such, they are daily methods of supporting a resident. We do not provide medical treatment.
These activities are part of routine care, and any team member trained in Memory Care may participate. However, should we receive advice from a licensed clinician or a family member on how to engage with an individual, we will incorporate it into our broader efforts to provide personalized carewhen possible.
If your loved one is not in senior care, then consider what senses each item engages. Remember that touch, for example, is not limited to pressure or texture; it can also involve warmth, cold, or specific ways of holding things to bring back sense memory or muscle memory. Even someone holding a tool from their legacy of work, or a favored fountain pen, could bring back something special.
On special occasions, try to take advantage of the opportunities on offer. Even something as simple as holiday pumpkin carving or helping bake a cake can be a delight for the senses. So, try to find small moments to engage in an activity, even if only for a short time.
If you wish to provide sensory activities at home, start small with one familiar cue at a time. If the activity is too overwhelming, slow down and try again later.
Here in Clinton, Iowa, we understand the challenges that can sometimes arise. So we tailor our support to the individual, documenting their needs so everyone knows what will help a resident in our care.
To learn more about what we can offer you or a loved one, get in touch and book a tour. With our dedicated memory care and assisted living, as well as various services and amenities, including chef-prepared dining, we can delight the senses and provide a level of care sure to impress.