Award Date
May 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
Degree Grantor
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Language
English
Repository Citation
Pagan, Marisa, "A Sensory Room Protocol for SNF Staff to Improve Confidence with Emotional Regulation in Adults with Cognitive Challenges: Through an Occupational Therapy Perspective" (2024). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 5060.
http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/37650885
Rights
IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Included in
Marriage and Family Therapy and Counseling Commons, Occupational Therapy Commons, Psychiatric and Mental Health Commons