Implicit attitudes towards dementia after education: Preliminary trial results from Japan

This study aimed to investigate the feasibility and validity of measuring implicit attitudes towards dementia in adults and older adults and evaluate the impact of dementia-friendly education using virtual reality (VR) on implicit attitudes.

This study was a secondary analysis of data from a randomised controlled trial. Community members in Tokyo aged 20-90 years participated in dementia-friendly education with or without VR. At the end of the dementia-friendly education programs, implicit attitudes towards dementia were measured using the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP).

Of the 145 participants, 89 (61%) started the IRAP, and 21 (15%) completed it. Lower age was significantly associated with the start/completion of the IRAP, and the age thresholds at which 50% of participants would not start/complete it were estimated to be 72.3/44.8 years, respectively. Those who had experience interacting with people with dementia other than family members had lower IRAP scores than those who had no such experience. The intervention group participating in the VR program had lower IRAP scores than the control group (p = .09).

Although measuring implicit attitudes using IRAP is deemed not feasible for people in their 70s and older, the differences in interaction experience would be evidence supporting the validity of the measurements of implicit attitudes towards dementia. The results suggest that dementia-friendly education, using VR, improves implicit attitudes towards dementia.