It’s amazing how putting on a bulky headset can enable you to go outer space, deep sea diving, killing zombies and scaling mountain, all in the comfort of your living room. Virtual reality has allowed users to escape reality by immersing into the virtual world.
This similar technology can also be used to help people who have dementia attenuate symptoms and enhance their quality of life.
Effects of VR On The Brain
Research conducted on VR and dementia has shown that people with the disorders who engage in cognitively stimulating activities can communicate and interact more effectively. Simple VR games with basic graphics help train short-term visual and auditory memory, as well as motor control and coordination.
Using virtual reality can aide in stretching the brain’s capacity, allowing it to repair and strengthen itself. Repetitive tasks are embedded into the game together with colorful visuals. VR becomes a tool which can help in stimulating the brain and nervous systems’ ability to reconstruct new synapses resulting from the interaction with the enriched environment.
Playing VR games can reduce chances of developing mild cognitive impairment by 30 to 50 percent. Virtual reality is entering the world of aging and disorders like dementia through education, improving quality of life and reducing dementia symptoms.
Virtual Reality Helping Treatments For Dementia
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- Immersive Trip To Memory Lane
VR enables elderly users to take an immersive trip to familiar places which encourages them to relive good memories. It results in activation of dopamine and the hormone serotonin. Not only did it help them train and strengthen memory, but it also provides a noninvasive therapy that rejuvenates and make them feel good.
Partaking in this type of journey helps patients work memory circuits and supports in mitigating behavioral and psychological symptoms. VR-based cognitive rehabilitation systems help patients that are having a cognitive impairment to improve their quality of life and help in reducing dementia.
- Immersive Trip To Memory Lane
- Brain-Stimulating Games and Activities
VR games could help dementia patients through engaging them in performing tasks which exercises their cognitive, memory, coordination and motor control. There is an opportunity to design VR activities or games which can target or stimulate specific regions of the brain. It is very important as patients experience different types of dementia, deterioration and brain damage.
Interacting with virtual environments helps the elderly patients reduce the number of medications they need to take. They have observed significant and positive changes towards enhancing the quality of life which is crucial in reducing anxiety and depression with patients.
After experiencing VR, people who have dementia are in a brighter mood. The fun, engaging and calm interaction within the VR space changes their behavior significantly. VR games are designed to test cognition, speed, reference points, memory, navigating and so on. - 360 Virtual Environments
Persons with dementia feel a sense of control and enjoy interacting with the virtual environment. Inside the VR they are given capabilities to change, interact, navigate and explore. Navigating stimulates their cognitive senses as they make decisions and process all the information they are given.
Navigating and retracing steps exercises a person’s ability to utilize short-term memory and consciousness of their presence in the world. They could explore or navigate indoor or outdoor environments to test and hone their skills, perception, memory, and language.
This type of activity is important in stimulating some part of the brain to create synapses and help the brain to self-repair and improve its health. It will also help them in adjusting to the real-life world. VR is an essential tool to make all these possible while remaining safe and enjoyable in the comforts of one’s home.
Different Kinds Of VR For Dementia Patients
- VR Headsets
Using VR headset attached to a mobile device or a computer is the easiest solution. Applications or games can be downloaded to the device. These games are designed to use gestures to navigate inside the virtual world that closely mirrors gestures naturally used in the real world. Patients can enjoy entertaining visuals and crisp audio to help them immerse in a virtual world. - Widescreen or Curved Displays
Using a widescreen display is a great option especially if the patient is not comfortable with wearing a headset. Exercises and demonstrations used widescreen to patients on their studies about VR and dementia.
- CAVE or Projectors
This technology is helpful in making it a social event, CAVE or projectors can be used for a group of patients to explore a virtual space at the same time. It encourages them to socialize and interact with other people while they explore the simulated environment.
Who Would Benefit
As of this day, there is still no cure for dementia. Nor are there any treatments that can slow the progression of the disease. The available treatments could only help in managing the symptoms. Researchers thoroughly search for better and effective treatments, or even a cure is possible. Getting diagnosed early is the only way patients, their families, and caregivers can prepare for the financial, social and emotional challenges that dementia can bring to them.
Using VR for rehabilitating dementia patients has a lot of benefits. One of the most significant of it is the ability to train patients in coping with the world in a very safe and comfortable environment. Taking these patients out in the real world bring too much stress and danger to them. Failed attempts of exposure can lead to anxiety and depression, especially to the elderly patients.
With VR, they can create a controlled environment to minimize the distractions and issues which might confuse and stress people with dementia. Letting them cope on their own terms and pace can give them a great chance to learn and get ready to be integrated again into the society. VR saves dementia patients from the humiliation of having to perform exercises while they struggle and stumble through a task. It could help boost their confidence, encourage independence and train to get ready for the real world.
Closing
VR technology can help healthcare providers and facilities improve their service to the elderly and dementia patients. It can help in addressing the quality of life and challenges in coping that these patients face every day of the rest of their lives. It is a great solution that results in happier and more engaged patients, as well as satisfied families and caregivers.
References:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2018/04/virtual_reality_dementia_brain_trauma_stroke_patie.html
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/solutions-in-virtual-reality-for-dementia-and-alzheimers_us_59a9c841e4b0d0c16bb524f5
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1ae9/0598076589096140702f487de9d87f9b2d5c.pdf
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/health/aging/os-virtual-reality-dementia-20170711-story.html
https://www.unforgettable.org/blog/virtual-reality-could-help-reduce-dementia-medication-use/
https://www.vrs.org.uk/vr-game-part-research-fight-dementia/
http://www.cabhi.com/news/virtual-reality-and-dementia-care/
https://insights.samsung.com/2018/03/13/virtual-reality-delivers-real-world-benefits-to-dementia-patients/
https://www.wired.com/2017/04/vr-for-seniors/