Alzheimer?s disease affects approximately 5.4 million Americans (NIA, 2017) and by 2050, this number is expected to more than double to 13.8 million.1 Until cures for the dementias are discovered, new technologies are imperative that can help reduce the emotional burden of AD/ADRD for older adults and their care givers (Goal C of NIA?s strategic plan). In this STTR (Small Business Technology Transfer) Phase I study, we test the feasibility and technological merit of a new virtual reality (VR) platform, Rendever, with residents with mild cognitive impairments (MCI) and mild to moderate Alzheimer?s disease (AD) and Alzheimer?s disease-related-dementias (ADRD) and their adult children who live at a distance.
The aims are to evaluate (1) the acceptability, engagement, and usability challenges of Rendever with this population, and (2) level of cognitive impairment (MCI, mild to moderate AD/ADRD) for which Rendever is best suited. Rendever enables older adults in residential care communities to maintain important family relationships, engage fully with life, and reconnect with their past. No VR technology, to our knowledge, has been tested with older adults as a way to enhance their family relationships, primarily because VR platforms typically lack sophisticated networking abilities. Rendever is highly innovative in that it is the only product on the market that incorporates live streaming and networking technology through one VR platform that allows everyone on the network to experience the same content at the same time, regardless of location. Preliminary testing of Rendever among residents without cognitive impairments shows that it increases positive emotions, energy, social well-being, and physical/mental health.2 However, the feasibility of Rendever with residents with dementia, as well as its remote capabilities with family members, have never been tested. Thus, this pilot study tests the feasibility of two components of Rendever?virtual travel into the past (e.g., traveling to one?s childhood home and familiar locations) and virtual family picture worlds?across three time points with 20 residents with MCI and 20 residents with mild to moderate AD/ADRD and their adult children who live at a distance. Phase I will be successful when we effectively adapt the technology to the participants through continuous feedback provided by interviews, self-report measures (e.g., user satisfaction, engagement, affect, enjoyment), and human and computerized coding of affect and engagement throughout the pilot testing. The end product is a networked, portable VR platform of travel adventures and virtual family photos that residents and their adult children who live at a distance can experience together and that can then be tested in a Phase II, multi-site clinical trial. Rendever has the potential to help residents with dementia reclaim their personal vitality and remain connected with their family, reduce the guilt, sadness, and anxiety of family members, and revolutionize existing thoughts on aging.
This Phase I STTR tests the feasibility and technological merit of a new virtual reality program called Rendever with older adults with cognitive impairments (mild cognitive impairments and mild to moderate dementia) in residential care communities and their adult children who live at a distance. Rendever can help residents maintain important family relationships, engage fully with life, and reconnect with their past through virtual picture worlds and virtual travel. These goals are accomplished with its unique networking and livestreaming capabilities in a single platform.
