2 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
The long-term goal of this project is to improve the health and well-being of preterm infants and their parents. Although there is evidence to support positive multisensory interventions in the NICU, these interventions are often applied in an inconsistent manner, reducing their benefit. Through a rigorous and scientific process, we have developed a structured multisensory intervention program, titled Supporting and Enhancing NICU Sensory Experiences (SENSE), which includes specific doses and targeted timing of evidence-based interventions such as massage, auditory exposure, rocking, holding, and skin-to-skin care. The interventions are based on the infant's developmental stage and are adapted based on the infant's medical status and behavioral cues. The multisensory interventions are designed to be conducted during each day of NICU hospitalization by the parents, who are educated and supported to provide them. The proposed work aims to determine the effect of multisensory interventions on parent mental health, parent-child interaction, brain activity (amplitude integrated electroencephalography), and infant developmental outcomes through age 2 years, with specific attention to language outcome.
Children with Sensory Modulation Dysfunction (SMD) either over- or under-react to stimuli in their environment. This can cause significant problems with daily activities and may lead to anxiety, poor attention, low self-esteem, and further complications in motor, cognitive, social and emotional development. Diagnosis of SMD is based on physiological responses to specific stimuli, measures of behavioral/social/emotional symptoms, and studies of the resulting functional limitation and disability. Treatments involve direct biomedical and behavioral intervention to improve sensory processing, as well as adjustments to the home, school and community environment. This study will compare the effect of occupational therapy vs. alternative therapy on the reactivity and function of children who have SMD.