Minneapolis VA Health Care System
SensorySuite Reduces Mammogram Pain and Anxiety
The Minneapolis VA Health Care System has created a special room for mammograms that uses evidence-based approaches to reduce anxiety and pain.
Did you know that 1 in 4 women avoid mammograms because of worry and fear? Or that less than 70 percent of women in the U.S. who are 50 and older have had a mammogram in the last two years?
The Minneapolis VA Health Care System has created a special room for mammograms that uses evidence-based approaches to reduce anxiety and pain. This room, called the SensorySuite, simultaneously stimulates three senses—scent, sight and sound—to help reduce the discomfort, pain and anxiety of a mammogram.
Join us on Wednesday, February 12, 2020 for a walk-in Mammogram Screening Event at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center. Walk-in screening is being offered for ONE DAY ONLY from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. in the SensorySuite (Room 1Q-100, 1 Veterans Dr., Minneapolis, MN).
SensorySuites allow Veterans to choose a nature-scape visual environment and accompanying auditory experience.
SensorySuites offer Veterans the ability to control the amount of compression used during screening via hand-held remote. They also allow Veterans to choose a nature-scape visual environment and accompanying auditory experience.
Veterans choose the SensorySuite environmental ambiance they prefer for their mammogram: seaside, garden or waterfall. In the exam suite a flat-screen wall monitors display soothing videos and photos that project relaxing sounds of the selected atmosphere.
There is strong evidence behind these approaches. For instance, nature images in a clinical setting can reduce anxiety and induce calm, while music can stimulate the production of stress-relieving endorphins.
That’s why we invested in the SensorySuite—because we believe Veterans shouldn’t fear a test that could save their life.
If it has been more than a year since your last mammogram you can self-schedule; call 612-467-5462 for more information. If it has been less than a year since your last mammogram, or if you need a diagnostic mammogram for a current issue, please schedule an appointment with your provider.
All mammography patients are scheduled in the SensorySuites and receive 3D mammography. We provide mammography for female and male patients.
