Blankets with weights help to
calm and soothe mental health patients
Cooley Dickinson Hospital therapists seek
to understand the blankets’ therapeutic affect
01-31-2006
Since they began phasing out the use of
physical restraints about five years ago, professionals providing acute mental
health treatments at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton have discovered
that weighted blankets appear to be a tool patients use to help calm and soothe
themselves.
Fleece on one side and cotton on the other, the blankets can weigh from
five to thirty pounds. Tina Champagne, M.Ed., OTR/L, a licensed occupational
therapist on the psychiatric unit at Cooley Dickinson Hospital explains, "many
patients report that the use of the weighted blanket helps them to calm and
comfort themselves." Champagne adds, "And what’s great is that use is
self-controlled, meaning that the patients can use them when they feel the need
to, and take them on and off at will."
Champagne and Deb Dickson, RN, MSN, CS, a nurse in Cooley Dickinson’s
psychiatric unit, have launched a research study that is supported by
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center’s Internal Review Board. This is the second
consecutive study on the safety and effectiveness of the use of the weighted
blanket, both performed in collaboration with the UMASS mechanical engineering
department.
Champagne says weighted vests and weighted blankets have been used by
occupational therapists for many years, and although research has been published
on the therapeutic use of weighted vests, none is currently available on the use
of weighted blankets. She further explained that for many people who are
anxious, agitated, depressed, manic, or psychotic, the weighted blanket often
appears to be helpful." Champagne says, "many patients report that it helps them
to calm and self-comfort, which ultimately brings them to a place where they’re
more ready and able to engage in treatment."
Champagne, who has been at the hospital for five years, is an expert in
sensory approaches and has spoken on the topic at conferences across the country
and in England.
Champagne says the mixed methods study she and Dickson are conducting and
overseeing will be performed with two test groups: 30 patients who will use the
weighted blankets at the full weight of 30 pounds, and 30 patients who will
choose the amount of weight and weight placement that they want in their
blanket. Patients will self-report on their perceptions regarding the use of the
weighted blankets, and their physiological responses will be monitored through
such metrics as blood pressure, pulse, pulse oximetry, and galvanic skin
response. The study, that began in October, is expected to be completed in
March.
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