Scientific study shows positive results.

We know that the sun has a positive effect on our senses and our body. This has been considered in the municipality of Vänersborg. Here, residents and staff at several nursing homes are offered regular stays in the Sunwell solar room. Researchers from the R&D centre Fyrbodal and Vänersborg municipality have investigated the importance of using the solar rooms. The results are now presented in a research report.

The purpose of the study is to describe how the experience and the significance of a visit to a solar room has an impact on the well-being of the elderly. Researchers from the R&D centre Fyrbodal have worked with focus groups and taken part in information and experiences from regular users of the solar rooms, namely the staff and the elderly.

Not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to travel to the sun during the dark season, but there is a solution to this problem. Sunwell has developed artificial sunlight containing the entire spectrum of the sun. The sunlight has been adapted to meet the authorities’ requirements and staying an hour in the solar room is equated with being outside on a sunny summer day for about 15 minutes.

Noticeable in this recent study is the overall experience for the visitors of the solar room. Sunlight is complemented by environments inspired by e.g. Caribbean or Bohuslän’s west coast. In addition to the light and the heat, you can dip your toes in warm sand, listen to the sound of waves, feel a cooling wind and faintly scent the tarred wood.

The staff describes how the hour in the Sunwell solar room has a noticeable positive effect on elderly with joint problems and joint pain as well as on hypermobility in Huntington’s disease. They also agree that the stay reduces the elderly’s motor anxiety for the moment. They claim the elderly  seem more alert, look happier, are calmer and more relaxed after the stay. In addition, the activity constitutes an important social function and becomes a welcome break from everyday routines.

One of the elderlies who visits the solar room regularly says: “Yes, I must say that I have a lot of pain and it is therefore wonderful to lie in the heat…”

The results of the study show that both the staff and the elderly are very positive about the stay in the solar rooms and that it affects the health of the elderly for the better. It is a relatively inexpensive activity, accessible to most people and used by many.