Tjörn has become the sunniest island in Sweden

In the middle of Tjörn, in Kållekärr, in a quiet residential area, the municipality invested in 2017 in a tropical sunroom at Lilldal’s senior housing as an investment so that the residents can enjoy the sun even during the dark months of the year. The solarsunroom became a great success and now Valåsen’s nursing home on the same street has also chosen to offer sun therapy for its elderly.

Valåsen’s nursing home has a strong competence and knowledge of dementia, with pedagogical way of working and great consideration for the needs of people with dementia. Pernilla Rasmusson, manager at Valåsen, contacted Sunwell in early September with a request for a sunroom, after she and her colleague Aida Tegeltija had visited Lilldal’s sunroom earlier. They both felt that it might be something for their elderly, according to Pernilla.

– We thought that the coastal environment suited us better here as many of our residents have been close to the sea and worked with e.g. fishing. It felt good to be able to offer such an environment to rest in, says Pernilla.

The coastal theme is appreciated by many elderly people with dementia and those who may never have been abroad on an exotic holiday. All scenery in coastal sunrooms is built as an authentic environment with i.a. with a nice Swedish archipelago, scenery of various boathouses, solid wooden houses, piles, wooden bridges, ropes, etc. creates a holistic experience. All colors, scents, sounds and sand between the toes feel familiar, stimulate the memory and create a pleasant feeling of security.

Sunlight therapy has both a calming and stimulating effect and fulfills an important social function. Regular stay in a sunroom means great benefits both in the form of happy, healthy seniors with lower care needs and, for example, in reduced costs for sleeping pills and sedatives. In a nice sunroom, the elderly can meet, relax, ventilate different emotions and leave everyday life for a while. Older people with dementia become easier to activate in a nice warm authentic solar environment where they can relate to their youth or a previous holiday trip.