Virtual reality education for dementia care: a scoping review protocol

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Education
• Gerontology
• Virtual Reality Applications

Background:

• Virtual reality (VR) shows promise in improving dementia care education for various user groups.
• Existing VR interventions for dementia care lack standardized content and outcome measures.
• A comprehensive overview is needed to evaluate VR educational programs effectively.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review the content and outcome measurements of VR-based health care education programs for dementia care.
• To identify current practices and gaps in VR educational interventions for dementia.
• To inform the development of unified indicators for evaluating VR educational programs.

Main Methods:

• A scoping review following the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology.
• Searches across multiple databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, Cochrane, JBI Evidence Synthesis) and local/gray literature sources.
• Inclusion of studies in English, Japanese, Chinese, and Thai, encompassing all study designs.

Main Results:

• The review synthesizes diverse VR educational program content for dementia care.
• Identifies varied outcome measurements used across studies.
• Highlights the heterogeneity in VR intervention design and evaluation.

Conclusions:

• There is a need for standardized approaches to VR educational program content and outcome measurement in dementia care.
• Development of unified indicators is crucial for consistent evaluation of VR interventions.
• Further research should focus on creating evidence-based frameworks for VR dementia care education.