Virtual Reality Experience

Jez975

has anyone had any positive experiences using VR headsets with their loved ones?

M1

I'm surprised by the idea. PWD have a hard enough time navigating the true world, i would think virtual reality would make them even more confused. Many develop serious sensory processing issues with which their brains cannot accurately process sight (including depth perception) or sound so I can't imagine they would be able to process the virtual input. Most would also not tolerate the headsets IMHO. Curious where you got the idea?

trottingalong

I’m with M1, I couldn’t imagine my DH being able to handle that. He has a hard enough time understanding what he sees on the tv. I have to find less and less complicated story lines in movies he watches. Interested if others have tried it.

Jez975

NIH supported research: Appel L, Ali S, Narag T, Mozeson K, Pasat Z, Orchanian-Cheff A, Campos JL. Virtual reality to promote wellbeing in persons with dementia: A scoping review. J Rehabil Assist Technol Eng. 2021 Dec 21;8:20556683211053952. doi: 10.1177/20556683211053952. PMID: 35024166; PMCID: PMC8743938.

Iris L.

This sounds horrible. It might have worked in a research setting, but it sounds abusive to me. I tried a virtual reality headset at a store in Las Vegas, the workers warned to be careful walking around. PWDs are already having difficulty walking around in the real world, how could they manage in a virtual world? Plus they would have to try to decipher the virtual world. I am not a fan.

Iris

ImMaggieMae

This sounds cruel to me. Many PWD have enough trouble navigating reality and dealing with hallucinations. This sounds like it would only create more confusion.

storycrafter

My husband, who is early in his FTDbv dementia, bought himself a VR headset a year ago; has always loved gadgets and technology. He enjoyed it for a bit, but forgot about it after a few months, or hasn't continued using it in any case. I'm not sure why. When he showed it to me, a brief sample, it was a fascinating, interesting experience I enjoyed.

In response to your question, I think it would depend on where your pwd is in their progression. I could imagine someone sitting down using a very basic program, enjoying viewing a peaceful natural environment. It would be like sight-seeing, or viewing life from your back porch, hearing and seeing birds, forest animals, etc., watching waves on a beach, or a peaceful lakeshore view, or a meadow with grazing animals, calm and lovely music in the background. I don't know what all is available now, but I could see a place for it in specific environments.

I could also see some benefits in movement exercises. There was one program that had you reaching and stretching. I also imagine it could be great for a chair yoga session.

Hey, you've reminded me of the gadget and now I want to find out what's happened to it. Maybe it would help me start an exercise regimen? 😃

M1

I looked up the 2021 study you cited. It’s a review of about twenty articles published primarily between 2019 to 2021 and does not really report any results. It said that “emotional responses” were reported in 90% of the reviewed articles ( but did not specify positive or negative). It said there were no results reported regarding isolation or social engagement and primarily says it remains an unexplored tool.

GothicGremlin

I have some friends who are into virtual reality, mostly for gaming. They let me try it out - I visited Mars, and got up close and personal with a rover. It was super cool.

However, it practically gives me hives when I think about how my sister would have reacted to the experience (not Mars in particular, just the whole thing - the headset, the controllers you have, etc. walking around very carefully, etc.). She had early onset Alzheimer's and FTD. I think it could be quite frightening for a PWD, and I know it would have been for her.

Even under the best of circumstances (like what @storycrafter describes … peaceful nature environment), I think it could be very confusing and potentially harmful. I'm thinking about how much my sister loved cats, and if a cat happened to show up in VR along with flowers and birds, my sister would have fixated on the cat and how much she wants one, and then we'd loop on that for some number of hours.

VR feels very risky to me.

M1

there’s a lot of information out there about using it as a dementia simulation tool for caregivers (our MC did a similar program) but very little on use with PWD.