Use of personalised VR media for Dementia care
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The use of personalised VR media in Dementia care within a secure hospital environment
IRAS ID
312045
Contact name
Inga Stewart
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
St Andrew's Healthcare
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 4 months, 31 days
Research summary
Background: Many people who are diagnosed with dementia live in care homes or hospital environments. Although you can live well with dementia, the psychological impact of dementia can take form of changes in mood, agitation or general discomfort. Quality of life and wellbeing of people with dementia (PwD) can be challenged due to these barriers and symptoms. Research shows that non-pharmacological interventions such as Reminiscence Therapy (RT) are key for improving wellbeing. New technology such as Virtual Reality (VR) provides an alternate platform for PwD to go through RT. Studies have shown that the use of RT in VR can effectively improve memory recollection and produce cognitive improvement. Furthermore, personalised therapies which are tailored towards individuals are another useful tool to trigger memories and positive emotions, individuals also showed more attention to these experiences compared to general reminiscence subjects.
Aim: This study will observe how personalised VR content can be used for reminiscence therapy for people with mild through to severe dementia and how this can be designed and improved to benefit the quality of life and wellbeing of the individuals. Method: The VR intervention will involve the person experiencing personally tailored videos, whilst engaging in conversation with staff. They will be observed and an audio recording taken. The participants will then be asked a series of questions after the intervention to understand their thoughts on the personalised media and the experience. After the feedback given from the participants, improvements will be made and then the participants will be asked to try it again to see if the experience has been improved. VR sessions and interviews will be recorded to complete the above data analysis. All the data will be stored in a locked cabinet or a password-protected computer. Once data analysis is complete, they will both be deleted.
REC name
South Central - Oxford C Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/SC/0170
Date of REC Opinion
22 Jul 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion