Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Apr 12, 2021
Date Accepted: Jul 27, 2021
The Effect of Reminiscence Therapy using Virtual Reality on Apathy in Residential Aged Care: Results from a Multi-site Non-Randomised Controlled Trial
ABSTRACT
Background:
Apathy is a frequent and under-recognized symptom of neurological disorders. Reduced goal directed behaviour caused by apathy is associated with poor outcomes for older adults in residential aged care. Recommended nonpharmacological treatments include person-centred therapy using information and communication technology. Virtual reality (VR) is a fully immersive technology providing access to wide range of freely available content. The use of VR as a tool for therapy has demonstrated promise in areas including treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder and anxiety. Research using VR for symptoms of older adults in residential aged care facilities is limited.
Objective:
This study examined changes in apathy after three sessions of a reminiscence therapy intervention including VR.
Methods:
In this multi-site trial, 43 participants were allocated to one of three groups: reminiscence therapy intervention using VR, reminiscence therapy using a laptop computer and physical items (active control), and a usual care (passive control) group. The primary outcome was apathy, secondary outcomes included cognition and depression. Side effects from using head-mounted displays were also measured in the VR group.
Results:
Mixed model analyses revealed no significant time by group interaction in outcomes between the VR and laptop groups, estimate=-2.24, SE=1.89, t(40)=-1.18, P=.24. Pooled apathy scores in the two intervention groups compared to the passive control group also revealed no significant time by group interaction, estimate=-0.26, SE=1.66, t(40)=-0.16, P .88. There were also no significant results in the secondary outcomes. Most participants in the VR group did state they would prefer to watch content in VR than on a flat screen, Chi-square (2)=11.2, P=.004, and with careful selection of content, it was found that side effects were negligible to minimal according to Simulator Sickness Questionnaire cutoff scores.
Conclusions:
Although there were no significant results in outcome measures, this study found that participants engaged with the research and enjoyed the process of reminiscing using both forms of technology. It was found that VR can be implemented in an aged care setting with the correct protocols in place. Providing residents in aged care with a choice of technology may assist with increasing participation in activities. We cannot dismiss the importance of immediate effects while the therapy was in progress, this is an avenue for further research that will be reported from this study. Clinical Trial: Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12619001510134; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=378564
Citation
Request queued. Please wait while the file is being generated. It may take some time.
Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.