Sensory modulation interventions for adults with mental illness: A scoping review

Introduction: Sensory Modulation Interventions (SMI) assist people with mental illnesses to regulate emotional and physiological arousal. We aimed to conduct a scoping review to identify the study designs, geographical distribution, modality/regimen, barriers and facilitators in using SMI for individuals with mental illnesses. Methods: A systematic search was conducted using Arksey and O'Malley’s framework with studies published on SMI from January 2010 to November 2020. Results: 17 articles were found to be relevant. One was a case-control study, qualitative (N = 3), mixed-method (N = 3), and case studies (N = 3), and the rest were pilot interventional studies (N = 8). The duration of sessions ranged from 2 to 30 minutes for 2 days to 3 years. The facilitators in using SMI were of being cost-effective and easily adaptable. Barriers were in terms of maintenance of sensory items. Sensory modulation based items related to proprioception, vestibular and tactile were the frequently used in the SMI based interventions used in the included studies. Conclusions: SMI as an occupational therapy intervention for individuals with mental illnesses is evolving and more robust studies in the future are recommended.