Effect of Massage Therapy in a Multisensory Environment for Intellectual Disabilities

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of multisensory environment (MSE) and/or massage therapy (MT) in residents with severe and profound intellectual disabilities (ID) who received massage therapy in MSE, activities in MSE alone, massage therapy in usual care environment, or usual care with attention. Since there has not yet been any conclusive evidence to show the clinical efficacy of MT and MSE on relaxation and reducing challenging behaviours, the following null hypotheses are suggested: 1. There will not be any differences on reducing heart and respiration rates between MT-MSE, MT, MSE, and usual care only over the 10-week intervention period and a 2-week follow-up. 2. There will not be any differences on adaptive behaviours and levels of alertness between MT-MSE, MT, MSE, and control group over the 10-week intervention period and a 2-week follow-up. 3. There will not be any differences on frequency and severity of challenging behaviours between MT-MSE, MT, MSE, and control group over the 10-week intervention period and a 2-week follow-up.