Virtual Reality Experience Intervention May Reduce Responsive Behaviors in Nursing Home Residents with Dementia: A Case Series.
J Alzheimers Dis
; 84(2): 883-893, 2021.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1518456
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
People with advanced dementia often exhibit responsive behaviors such as apathy, depression, agitation, aggression, and psychosis. Non-pharmacological approaches (e.g., listening to music, watching television, doing arts and crafts) are now considered as a first-line strategy to manage responsive behaviors in clinical practice due to the potential risks associated with the antipsychotic medications. To date, no evaluations of immersive non-head mounted virtual reality (VR) experience as a non-pharmacologic approach for people with advanced dementia living in nursing homes have been reported.OBJECTIVE:
To evaluate the feasibility (acceptance and safety) of VR experience.METHODS:
A single site case series (nonrandomized and unblinded) with a convenience sample (Nâ=â24; ageâ=â85.8±8.6 years; Cognitive Performance Scale scoreâ=â3.4±0.6) measuring depression and agitation before and after the intervention. The intervention was a 30-min long research coordinator- facilitated VR experience for two weeks (10 sessions).RESULTS:
The intervention was feasible (attrition rateâ=â0% ; adverse eventsâ=â0). A reduction in depression and in agitation was observed after the intervention. However, we suggest extreme caution in interpreting this result considering the study design and small sample size.CONCLUSION:
This study provides the basis for conducting a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effect of VR experience on responsive behaviors in nursing homes. Since our intervention uses a smart remote-controlled projector without a headset, infectious exposure can be avoided following the COVID-19 pandemic-induced physical distancing policy in care homes.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Virtual Reality
/
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
/
Nursing Homes
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
English
Journal:
J Alzheimers Dis
Journal subject:
Geriatrics
/
Neurology
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
JAD-210010
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS