Impact of Snoezelen Intervention and Reminiscence Therapy on Seniors' Emotionality and Anxiety

Short Term and Long Term Impact of Snoezelen Intervention and Reminiscence Therapy on Emotionality and Anxiety and the Dynamics of Their Change in Older Adults in Slovak Elderly Care Facilities

The aim of the study is to verify and compare the short-term and long-term effectiveness (retention) of Snoezelen intervention and reminiscence therapy and to analyze the dynamics of changes in the level of emotionality and anxiety of seniors in experimental groups and the control group.

The main question is:

There are significant differences in the level of emotionality (negative and positive emotional states) and anxiety between the two experimental groups of seniors and the control group of seniors during the measurements (pre-test measurement vs. retest measurement I; pre-test measurement vs. retest measurement II; retest measurement vs. retest measurement II)?

Researchers will compare seniors receiving Snoezelen intervention, those receiving Reminiscence Therapy, and a control group without intervention to see if the interventions lead to measurable improvements in emotionality and anxiety.

Participants will take part in Snoezelen sessions, take part in Reminiscence Therapy sessions, complete pretest, retest and retest II assessments measuring emotionality and anxiety.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Anxiety; Emotionality
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Snoezelen intervention; Other: Reminiscence therapy

Detailed Description

The study was registered retrospectively due to a limited awareness of the requirement to register behavioural interventions at the time of its initiation in 2022/2023. Initially conceived as a small-scale exploratory project, formal trial registration was not deemed necessary in the early planning stages.

As a doctoral student and early-career researcher, I was initially unaware that behavioural intervention studies also require formal registration. However, as the research progressed and its scope and significance became clearer, I recognised the importance of fulfilling this requirement. Upon learning of the relevant guidelines, I promptly took the necessary steps to complete the registration.

Although registration occurred at a later stage, the study was carried out in accordance with a pre-specified protocol, strictly adhering to methodological and ethical standards-approved, for instance, by the Ethics Committee of Matej Bel University. The hypotheses, study design, and analysis plan were defined prior to data collection, thereby ensuring the rigour, integrity, and transparency of the research process.

Funded by the EU NextGenerationEU through the Recovery and Resilience Plan for Slovakia under the project No. 09I03-03-V05-0000.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 55
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Slovakia
  • Slovakia
    • Hriňová, Slovakia, Slovakia, 96205
      • Hriňovčan care facility for older adults, Hriňová, Slovakia 96205

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• long-term residence in the facility,
• age over 62,
• willingness to participate,
• ability to participate (no severe cognitive or physical impairments)

Inclusion Criteria for Snoezelen:

• mentioned above
• participants who have undergone Reminiscence therapy as part of previous research

Exclusion Criteria:

• significant physical problems,
• significant mental health problems,
• unwillingness to participate

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Snoezelen intervention; The Snoezelen intervention involved 20 participants in the pre-test and re-test, and 16 participants in the re-test.	Other: Snoezelen intervention; Snoezelen intervention included 28 originally designed activities (Ďuricová, 2026a). The ideas were incorporated into the daily schedule of older adults over a period of four weeks, during weekdays. In Hriňovčan care facility, within the Snoezelen environment, two consecutive activities were carried out daily (with a total duration of 60 minutes), during the afternoon hours. The selection of activities depended on the interests of the older adults. Their application was neither strictly determined nor rigidly organised. Clients participated in the Snoezelen sessions in groups of 5-6 members. The activities were facilitated by trained staff - social worker and instructor of social rehabilitation.
Experimental: Reminiscence therapy; The reminiscence therapy involved 20 seniors in the pre-test and re-test, and 18 seniors in the re-test II.	Other: Reminiscence therapy; Reminiscence therapy included 13 activities (Ďuricová, 2026b). Activities were also incorporated into the daily schedule over a period of four weeks, during weekdays. In the Hriňovčan care facility, one activity was conducted daily (lasting 60 minutes) in the common room during designated morning and afternoon hours. The selection and implementation of the activities were strictly determined and organised. The older adults participated in a group setting, with 20 members. The activities were led by two social workers who participated in training with the author of the programme.
No Intervention: Control group; The control group did not participate in any of the interventions.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
The Scale of Emotional Habituation of Subjective Well-Being - SEHP (Džuka & Dalbert, 2002)	The Scale of Emotional Habituation of Subjective Well-Being - SEHP (Džuka & Dalbert, 2002) was used to examine the short-term effectiveness of the intervention programme. The self-esteem scale maps the frequency of experiencing positive and negative emotions, totalling 10. Negative emotional experiencing consists of six emotions such as anger, guilt, fear, pain, sadness, and shame, positive emotional experiencing consists of pleasure, physical freshness, joy, and happiness. The participants responded on a six-point scale (6 - almost always; 1 - almost never). The total score of negative emotions is the sum of negative emotions, and the total score of positive emotions is the sum of positive emotions (Džuka et al., 2021).	from participant enrollment to data collection after 8 months
The Anxiety and Trait Anxiety Inventory - STAI (Spielberger et al., 1970, ed. Ruisel et al., 1980)	The Anxiety and Trait Anxiety Inventory - STAI (Spielberger et al., 1970, ed. Ruisel et al., 1980), specifically only the anxiety portion of the questionnaire, i.e., the Scale for the Measurement of Anxiety as a Condition, STAI X-1. This is the self-assessment portion of the questionnaire, which maps the degree of current experience of feelings of tension, tenseness, nervousness, fear, and apprehension. It contains 20 statements, some of which relate to the existence of these feelings and some of which relate to their absence. Seniors rated their experiencing on a four-point scale (4 - very, 1 - not at all). We based the norms on those presented in the manual by Ruisel et al. (1980).The result is a total score, which is obtained by summing the values on the scale taking into account reverse scaling. The range of the total score is 20-80.	from participant enrollment to data collection after 8 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Reflection Questionnaire (Ďuricová, 2023)	This is a questionnaire that maps client satisfaction with activities. It includes three statements, with clients expressing their level of agreement on a three-point scale (agree - have no strong opinion - disagree) in the areas of: re participation, usefulness and disinterest in the activities. It also includes three incomplete sentences that seniors complete at will. Responses reflect what clients learned/how the activities helped them, what they liked most about the activities, what they would remove from the activities.	one month

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Matej Bel University
• Collaborators: European Union
• Investigators: Study Director: Lenka Ďuricová, doc., Mgr., PhD., Matej Bel University; Principal Investigator: Diana Ďuricová, PhDr., Matej Bel University

Publications and helpful links

Helpful Links

• website of the organization where the research was conducted

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 26, 2022
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 1, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): September 30, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 21, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 21, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): January 29, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 29, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 21, 2026
• Last Verified: January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: anxiety; older adult; reminiscence therapy; snoezelen; elderly care facilities; emotionality
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Anxiety Disorders
• Other Study ID Numbers: UGA-06-DS-2025; 09I03-03-V05-00009 (Other Grant/Funding Number: Early stage grants - Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No