Augmented reality-based affective training for improving care communication skill and empathy.

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Medical Education

Background:

• Effective communication skills are crucial for caregivers of people with dementia (PwD) to mitigate behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) and reduce caregiver burnout.
• Traditional one-on-one affective training for these skills can be expensive and inaccessible.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the efficacy of augmented reality (AR) for affective training to improve communication skills in caregivers.
• To assess the impact of AR-based training on practical nursing skills, affective skills (e.g., eye contact, patient communication), and empathy.

Main Methods:

• A study involving 38 nursing students comparing a control group using a doll for training with an experimental group using both a doll and an AR system (AR glasses).
• Participants were trained in practical nursing and affective skills.
• Data collected included physical interaction metrics (eye contact, distance, angle) and empathy scores.

Main Results:

• The AR group demonstrated significant improvements in eye contact, with decreased face-to-face distance and angle compared to the Doll group.
• Empathy scores significantly increased in the AR group post-training.
• A positive correlation was found between improved eye contact and extraversion in the AR group.

Conclusions:

• Affective training utilizing AR is effective in enhancing caregivers' practical communication skills and empathy.
• The AR system offers a promising, potentially more accessible, method for training dementia caregivers and improving general communication abilities.