ABSTRACT
Sensory deprivation in the elderly is an acquired syndrome which responds to intervention based on sensory integration principles and a sensitivity to former roles and cultural influences. Clinical observations of a group of regressed nursing home residents revealed maladaptive responses similar to those described by King in a sample of non-paranoid schizophrenic patients. Observations of maladaptive behavior were noted in posture and motor activity, perception, communication, cognition and psychosocial behavior. In the demonstration project presented here, eleven nursing home residents displaying symptoms of sensory deprivation were randomly assigned to one of two groups, intervention or control. The control group participated in individualized treatment utilizing biomechanical principles. In the intervention group, sensory integration principles provided the framework in a program which structured the environment to promote adaptive responses. The groups met for forty minutes twice weekly during a sixteen week period. A pretest-posttest comparison revealed significant improvement in the adaptive responses of the intervention group.
