Sensory rooms are used as spaced for calming and reducing distress in mental health units, schools, nursing homes, shopping centres, sports venues and other community spaces. These rooms are designed to support sensory modulation through calming sensory input such as lighting, textures, sounds, and visual input. One common feature of these rooms, however, raises an important question: the use of bubble columns. These visually appealing, colourful, water-filled tubes are often seen in sensory rooms, but are they still serving their intended purpose, or are they unintentionally reinforcing a sense of infantilisation for adults?
Read moreEvidence base for sensory modulation in the reduction of restrictive practice for NDIS participants
Evidence base for Sensory Modulation in the reduction of restrictive practices for NDIS participants
We have recorded a presentation and this is available on youtube.
The reference list for this presentation is available here:
Read moreTherapy rooms and waiting rooms: designing for sensory needs
Therapy room with grey lounge, green cushions, a white blanket and a plant on a small table. We would remove the aromatherapy sticks though!
At Sensory Modulation Brisbane, we have been advocating for Universal Design in Mental Health Units for Sensory Sensitivities and we would recommend that this is expanded to therapy rooms, waiting rooms and all health care spaces.
Many people who attend Therapy practices have sensory processing patterns that are more sensitive, more avoiding, or more seeking or more missing of sensations than others and this can vary between different senses. This includes:
· Autistics have sensory processing differences recognised as a diagnostic criteria. (DSM5)
· People with PTSD often have reactivity and hypervigilance to certain sensations
· People with schizophrenia often have auditory processing and visual perception challenges.
· ADHDers frequently have sensory processing differences (Schulze 2020)
· A high percentage of people with mental illness have interoceptive difficulties
Read moreUsing alternatives to torch light monitoring in Mental Health Unit Design
This blog will outline some of the challenges involved in using torch light to observe clients in mental health units at night and also provide some alternative options. Part of routine mental health care on mental health units is regular observations of people while they are sleeping/lying in bed. These routine observations are undertaken due to their perceived benefit in ensuring safety and wellbeing and to reduce the risk of suicide or severe harm. Nursing staff may need to complete observations up to 4 times per hour overnight and torch light is frequently used.
Read moreResearch Ideas
At Sensory Modulation Brisbane, we have clinicians who often identify topics for research, but who are unable to research them due to time or logistical restraints. We are very aware of the need for further research on Sensory Modulation, so we are going to list ideas through blogs when we have them.
Read moreSensory Modulation
Sensory Modulation can be used to change how you feel through using your senses. Sometimes Sensory Modulation is described as useful for calming and alerting but it can be used a lot more widely than this. We have made an infographic to show simply what it can be used for:
