Award Date

5-1-2024

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Occupational Therapy Doctorate

Department

Brain Health

First Committee Member

Donnamarie Krause

Second Committee Member

Jefferson Kinney

Number of Pages

111

Abstract

Adult sensory rooms are an emerging area of practice for occupational therapy, as this holistic approach uses sensory tools for input to one or more of the five senses, which promotes emotional regulation in individuals seeking calming and alerting outcomes. This sensory protocol proposal was created to assist healthcare workers within a skilled nursing facility and provide a tool that could be utilized in various settings to increase awareness of adult sensory rooms.

Methodology This quality improvement protocol project was conducted at Henderson Health and Rehabilitation to determine the need for and develop a protocol for an adult sensory room within a skilled nursing facility for adults with cognitive challenges to assist with emotional regulation. The second aim was to determine staff knowledge regarding sensory rooms and their uses. Pre survey of healthcare staff to determine baseline knowledge of sensory rooms, created a sensory room and observed residents in the room, protocol was developed and in-services and one on one training of staff with post survey to determine confidence levels and sensory room potential.

Results Fifty healthcare workers (n=50) completed the pre-survey questionnaire, training, and post survey questionnaires. Four (n=4) residents were observed using the sensory room and their before and after use behaviors were captured. Sixteen healthcare workers (n=16) completed the post-survey, which identified that there were improvements in staff confidence regarding sensory room use.

Conclusion An OTs lens is beneficial in creating sensory rooms within SNF facilities. Staff were open to using the sensory rooms as it supported the residents with cognitive challenges and increased their emotional regulation.

Keywords

Adults; Cognitive Challenges; Occupational Therapy; Sensory Room; Skilled Nursing Facility

Disciplines

Marriage and Family Therapy and Counseling | Medicine and Health Sciences | Occupational Therapy | Psychiatric and Mental Health

File Format

pdf

File Size

2300 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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