Need satisfaction of older persons living in the community and in institutions, part 1. The environment.

A descriptive study was conducted that compared the need satisfaction of older persons living in institutions. In the first article of a two-part series, the impact of environment on the satisfaction of needs was examined. Subjects included 20 community and 21 institutionalized older persons. Using Maslow's need hierarchy as the theoretical framework, it was found that the community environment satisfied belongingness/love and esteem needs to a greater degree than the institutional environment. No difference was found in the satisfaction of physiological, safety, and self-actualization needs between the two environments. Race, mental status, and whether a community resident lived alone or with others were variables that influenced the results. The findings emphasized the complexity of need satisfaction and supported the formulation that environment is a crucial factor in need satisfaction. In the second article, the relationship between engagement in activity and need satisfaction will be explored.

Need satisfaction of older persons living in the community and in institutions, part 2. Role of activity.

A descriptive study was conducted in order to examine the types of need satisfaction older persons gained from activities they performed in their living environments. This is the second of two articles that examines the relationships among need satisfaction, environment, and activity. Subjects included 20 community and 21 institutionalized older persons. It was found that the subjects' most important activities were visiting and being involved in church functions. Using Maslow's need hierarchy as the theoretical framework, both of these activities were found to be associated with satisfying belongingness/love needs. The implications the findings have for occupational therapy intervention with older persons are included.

Hyper-responsivity to touch and vestibular stimuli as a predictor of positive response to sensory integration procedures by autistic children.

Sensory processing disturbance in autistic children as a predictor of response to sensory integrative procedures was investigated. Ten autistic children, ages 3-1/2 to 13 years (mean, 7.4 years), were initially evaluated in regard to their hypo-, hyper-, or normal responsivity to visual, auditory, tactile, vestibular, proprioceptive, olfactory, and gustatory stimuli. After evaluation, each child received therapy that provided somatosensory and vestibular stimulation and elicited adaptive responses to these stimuli. At the end of one year of therapy, each child's progress was judged in relationship to that of the others, and the group was divided into the six best and the four poorest respondents. Stepwise discriminant analysis identified which initial test variables predicted good or poor responses to therapy. The good respondents showed tactile defensiveness, avoidance of movement, gravitational insecurity, and an orienting response to an air puff. Results suggest that children who registered sensory input but failed to modulate it responded better to therapy than those who were hypo-responsive or failed to orient to sensory input.