Scoping Review of Intergenerational Research on the Use of Multisensory Spaces

Multisensory spaces have been used across a number of health and social care contexts to promote well-being, engage the senses and promote inclusion by providing places where people can come together. Much of the existing research on such spaces focus on children or older adults with little investigation dedicated to spaces inclusive of both. Utilising multisensory spaces which bring together children and older adults can reduce costs and lead to opportunities for shared learning. We sought to identify empirical research which investigated the use of multisensory spaces for intergenerational participants. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were used to guide this review. Five electronic databases (PsycINFO, CINAHL, Web of Science, Embase, Pubmed) were interrogated using search terms developed in collaboration with a specialist subject librarian around the concepts of ‘intergenerational’ and ‘multisensory’. Two authors independently applied the agreed upon eligibility criteria to the titles and abstracts of potential articles for inclusion. Once the final articles had been identified, the authors independently extracted data and assessed quality of the included studies. Data were subjected to narrative synthesis. Following review of 979 titles and abstracts, 3 articles were identified for inclusion. Quality appraisal rated these as between 3 to 6 out of a possible total of 7. Narrative synthesis identified three themes named as Independence, Connecting with others and Equitable multisensory space design. Multisensory spaces offer the potential to deliver care within health and social care contexts which caters to the needs of children and older adults. There is a need to co-create such spaces with service users and other stakeholders to ensure they adequately meet the needs of all.