Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, UBC, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
PLoS One. 2019 Nov 21;14(11):e0225238. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0225238. eCollection 2019.
Sensory modulation rooms (SMRs) are therapeutic spaces that use sensory modulation concepts and strategies to assist service users to self-regulate and modulate arousal levels. SMRs are increasingly being explored as strength-based and person-centered adjuncts to care for people receiving inpatient psychiatry services. The aim of this study is to understand health provider and inpatient service user perceptions on the use of SMRs on acute psychiatric units.
We conducted semi-structured interviews with ten service users and nine health providers (four occupational therapists and five nurses) regarding their experiences of the SMRs located on three acute inpatient units in a large urban tertiary care hospital. We audio recorded and transcribed the focus groups and used thematic analysis to analyze the data.
Our results suggested four common themes amongst health provider and service user experiences of sensory modulation rooms: (1) service user empowerment through self-management, (2) emotional regulation, (3) an alternative to current practices, and (4) health provider and service user education.
Our study supports the ecological utility of SMRs as person-centred adjunct therapeutic space viewed positively by both service users and health providers. This understanding of SMRs is critical for future service design, research and policy aimed at improving the service user experience and care for this population. Future research is needed to validate the experience of the SMRs with other patient groups and health providers.
感官调节室（SMR）是一种治疗性空间，它运用感官调节概念和策略，帮助使用者自我调节和调节兴奋水平。SMR 正越来越多地被探索作为一种基于优势和以个人为中心的辅助手段，用于为接受住院精神病学服务的人提供护理。本研究旨在了解卫生保健提供者和住院服务使用者对在急性精神病病房使用 SMR 的看法。
我们对来自一家大型城市三级保健医院的三个急性住院病房的 10 名服务使用者和 9 名卫生保健提供者（4 名职业治疗师和 5 名护士）进行了半结构式访谈，了解他们对位于这些病房中的 SMR 的体验。我们对焦点小组进行了录音和转录，并使用主题分析对数据进行了分析。
我们的研究结果表明，卫生保健提供者和服务使用者在感官调节室的体验中有四个共同的主题：（1）通过自我管理增强服务使用者的能力，（2）情绪调节，（3）替代当前做法，以及（4）卫生保健提供者和服务使用者的教育。
我们的研究支持 SMR 作为以个人为中心的辅助治疗空间的生态效用，这一观点得到了服务使用者和卫生保健提供者的积极认同。对 SMR 的这种理解对于未来旨在改善服务使用者体验和护理这一人群的服务设计、研究和政策至关重要。需要进一步的研究来验证 SMR 在其他患者群体和卫生保健提供者中的体验。
