Multisensory stimulation for people with dementia: a review of the literature

The use of multisensory stimulation in people with dementia is becoming increasingly popular in the last decades. The aim of this review is to analyze the therapeutic effectiveness of multisensory stimulation in people with dementia. We made a search on Medline and Web of Science databases referred to all researches published from the year 1990 to 2012, which used multisensory stimulation techniques in people with dementia. The revision of the 18 articles which fulfilled the inclusion/exclusion criteria seems to prove evidence that multisensory stimulation environments produce immediate positive effects on the behavior and mood of people with dementia. Based on the above, we think it can be a useful nonpharmacological intervention on neuropsychological symptoms though, in any case, it would be necessary to start more reliable protocols from the methodological point of view in order to establish its long-term effectiveness.