2024 Alzheimer's Association Research Grant to Promote Diversity (AARG-D)
Developing an At-Home VR Activity Training Program for People with AD/ADRD
Can virtual reality help individuals living with dementia perform daily tasks?
Jung Hee-Tae, Ph.D.
Indiana University
Indianapolis, IN - United States
Background
For individuals living with Alzheimer’s or other dementia, research has shown that “aging in place” or living independently in one’s own home or community as long as possible can help maintain cognitive function. This can also prevent social isolation and improve overall quality of life. However, as dementia progresses, an individual will gradually lose the ability to carry out vital tasks related to activities of daily living on their own.
Cognitive training programs can be useful tools to help individuals living with routine tasks such as cooking, housekeeping, and medication management. For their project, Dr. Jung Hee-Tae and colleagues aim to develop a new virtual reality (VR) program designed for individuals living with dementia to practice activities of daily living.
Research Plan
Dr. Hee-Tae and the team will first conduct interviews with individuals living with dementia and their care partner to identify specific tasks and training environments that would be the most impactful for those using the VR program. They will also engage the expertise of occupational therapists to modify the program as needed, considering both environment complexity and task difficulty. Once the new VR program is designed, the researchers will recruit 40 individuals living with dementia to conduct a one-month pilot study that will assess the impact of VR training on task performance.
Impact
The results of this study will shed new light on how cognitive training can alleviate some of the challenges individuals living with dementia face in completing daily tasks. If successful, it will also identify a cost-effective method to help individuals living with dementia remain independent in their daily activities.