VR for dementia

[smilie]

Has anyone had any experience with the use of virtual reality for those with dementia?

My FIL has increasing dementia and I was thinking that this would be something he could do to stimulate his brain while being stuck inside. My MIL has anxiety with being the only care taker (they are in another state several hours away). So I was looking for one that is relatively easy to use for her to set up for him. Any suggestions?

 

[shelemm]

Sounds like it could be a great idea or a disastrous idea, but who knows.... I work with Oculus equipment. Not exactly cheap. You need the headset and a mobile phone (I use Samsung). Software is then available.

It is easy enough once you get the hang of it...

Here is a fascinating story from This American Life about how to use improv with a dementia patient. Not sure if this is helpful. It centers on the first rule of improv: "Yes, and...."

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/532/magic-words/act-two

 

[gillep]

We just got an Oculus last week from my husband's job as part of his WFH package. It seemed really easy to set up, he was up and running in minutes. I will say though that I am someone who has never experienced any sort of motion sickness in my life and this equipment made me pretty unsteady and a bit woozy after using it, so if he has balance issues or anything like that it may be a problem.

 

[bethclayton]

We have an oculus and we let my dad use it once. He is not diagnosed with dementia because he refuses to be evaluated for it, but he most certainly has it. He had fun using it but he had so much trouble understanding our very basic directions, such as "move your right arm up," so he really could barely get any of it to work properly. It seemed to be sensory overload for him. But I would never, ever let him use it if there were not a few of us right there because imo it presents a huge fall risk. I also honestly could envision my dad getting completely freaked out in it and not realizing he has to take the headset off for things to go back to normal.

 

[smilie]

I never even thought about the fall risk! Thank you so much for all of the input. I really need to find something to keep him occupied. All he wants to do is sleep and I know it's because he has nothing to look forward to during the day.

 

[mjkacmom]

My mom was diagnosed with cancer when my dad was many years in with alzheimers, he did nothing all day. My friend brought over some magazines and word finds for her to pass the time in chemo. My mom always had someone go with her to the hospital (tons of friends), so she gave the word finds to my dad. He loved them! He spent the last 4 years of his life doing word finds and crosswords all day long (big books for the kitchen table, little books for the family room). Although he cheated with the crosswords, before he got the disease, my dad did the New York Times crossword every single day.

OP I hope you find something he enjoys, just keep trying. VR would not have gone well with my dad.

 

[MarkLT1]

I never even thought about the fall risk! Thank you so much for all of the input. I really need to find something to keep him occupied. All he wants to do is sleep and I know it's because he has nothing to look forward to during the day.

Like others have mentioned, I think it would greatly depend on his personality, and how the dementia is affecting him. I am big into VR (I have 3 different headsets, and as game programming is a hobby of mine, have made a few little mini VR experiences to play with it on the programming side). I have read studies where VR has been used with positive outcomes for people with brain injuries (strokes, traumatic injuries, etc..). I haven't seen too much when it comes to dementia, but I would be a bit concerned about VR causing confusion or uncertainty. Again, I would guess it is dependent on the person. If he wouldn't get confused by it, experiences like google earth in VR is pretty amazing. One of the few times I saw my dad cry (they were bitter-sweet tears) was when he did street-view in VR out in front of his childhood home.

Regarding a fall risk. A year ago, we had my 87-year-old aunt using my VR headset. I set out a rolling office chair for her, that she sat in, and it allowed her to scoot around, turn, etc. She absolutely loved the experience, however she said she wouldn't have been comfortable walking around. With the rolling office chair, it was great.