Multisensory Stimulation Intervention for elderly people with dementia pilot study

Abstract Background Multisensory Stimulation interventions (MSI) are actions that stimulate the senses such as vision, hearing, touch, taste, smell, vestibular and proprioceptive systems. MSI interventions for people with dementia syndromes can offer stimuli that facilitate sensory modulation and capitalize on these individuals' residual sensorimotor skills. There are still few studies that point to the benefits of MSI Interventions in elderly people living in the Brazilian community. Objective To evaluate the benefits of an MSI Intervention proposal based on the principles of Snoezelen for elderly people with dementia syndromes. Materials and Methods The MSI Intervention will be developed in 12 individual sessions, lasting 45 minutes, with a weekly frequency. Sensory sensations such as vision, hearing, touch, taste, smell and proprioception will be stimulated and will be applied to 10 elderly people with dementia, considering that it is a pilot study. The study will be carried out at the Dementia Care Service (SADe) at the Baixada Santista campus of the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP). The benefits of the MSI Intervention will be evaluated by objective measures (blood pressure and heart rate) and changes in behavior and by subjective measures of perceived benefits of MSI that will be applied before and after the intervention and comparative analysis considering pre‐ and post‐intervention and the effect size of the intervention. Result: and Conclusion The study in question is in progress and the reults and conclusions will be presented at the congress.