Patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) such as autism and Down’s syndrome can process or interpret the built environment differently, which can create barriers to healthcare. For example, some individuals may experience typical lighting as especially bright, and sounds may be overly loud to them.

The stress and agitation from sensory overload can lead to aggression and ultimately behavioral challenges, says Erin Shipley, vice president, consumer experience at Cooper University Health Care (Camden, N.J.). “This can make providing care more difficult for patients, families, and providers,” she says.

In August 2023, the system’s Cooper University Hospital in Camden, N.J., embarked on a program, IDD Patient Experience, to identify and develop strategies to create better patient experiences at the facility.

Creating positive distractions for IDD patients

Stefanie Groff, director of the IDD program, says that process entailed conversations with hospital staff, as well as parents and other family members of IDD patients, many of whom had been receiving care at Cooper for years.

Participants shared feedback on how  color, light, and texture can be positive distractions for IDD patients in stressful environments as well as potential triggers specific to healthcare facilities, such as cluttered exam rooms.

Utilizing this information, the project team identified five existing spaces within the hospital where sensory elements could be introduced to improve hospital visits for the broad range of IDD patients. Four of those areas are in pediatrics—an exam room, radiology unit, consultation room, and emergency department waiting room—and one is an adult radiology unit.

Multisensory rooms need flexible designs

Tasso Karras, senior associate, interior design at Stantec (Philadelphia), the firm that designed the multisensory rooms, says the five spaces feature vibrant colors in the lighting, furniture, and wall art such as blue, red, green, and purple—a palette that can be somewhat customized through color-changing cove lighting in the ceiling.

Shapes and textures are also strategically used on the walls and floors. For example, round “lava spots” in the floor feature colors that shift when stepped on, and wave-like textured panels on the wall at bed level give patients permission to fidget constructively.

Additional elements within the rooms, such as interactive touchscreens embedded in the walls, can be turned on or off, depending on a patient’s level of sensitivity and how they react.

“One patient’s positive distraction might be another’s negative distraction. That’s why being able to control it to get it down to zero sensory was the goal,” says Kristina Klingbeil, senior associate designer at Stantec.

Tailored care approaches

Because not all patients with IDD respond well to sensory design, the hospital also created mobile multisensory carts that can be wheeled into any space, including standard exam rooms.

The units can play music and blow bubbles as well as display color-changing lights, buttons, and textured panels. “We have a whole toolbox of things to choose from, but we really have to learn what works and what doesn’t for each patient,” Groff says.

Robert McCune is senior editor of Healthcare Design and can be reached at [email protected].