Mercy Place Cairns' Tovertafel brings joy to dementia residents

Developed in the Netherlands and described as the 'most promising innovation of 2022' by USA Today, the Tovertafel, which is Dutch for magic table, is an award-winning dementia care asset that enables people living with dementia to interact with vibrant and engaging light projections.

It provides a range of activities, enabling a resident to simulate the touching of flowers and stars to growing plants, catching butterflies and popping bubbles.

Developed to foster social interaction in people with cognitive decline, and the result of more than a decade of scientific research, the Tovertafel has become popular in aged care settings across Europe, but has only recently been purchased by Mercy Health for residents at Mercy Place Cairns.

Mercy Place Cairns General Manager Precinct Zubair Coovadiam said that as well as providing invaluable moments of personal connection and joy, the technology is promoting increased physical activity and more social interaction between carers and residents.

"When we heard about this cutting-edge technology, we really wanted to investigate how it would benefit the well-being and happiness of our residents here in Cairns," Mr Coovadia said.

He said the technology was purchased through the Mercy Health Foundation.

"We have been so impressed with the technology, quite simply with the press of a button we can transform a table into a playing field without changing the safe, familiar environment for our seniors, and in doing so we can create more moments of happiness for our residents living with cognitive challenges, as well as their family members, friends, and caregivers," he said.

"Our focus is always on the well-being of our residents, and this technology is proving very effective in engaging them not just socially, but also physically and cognitively, so we are very grateful to have had funding through the Mercy Health Foundation to bring this advanced technology to our residents here at Mercy Place in Cairns."

Mercy Health is a Catholic community not for profit provider of care, founded by the Sisters of Mercy and grounded in a 2000-year history of caring for those in need.

It is a national provider of healthy ageing services in Victoria, NSW, Western Australia, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory.