An Innovative Interactive Narrative Persona (INP) Approach for Virtual Reality-Based Dementia Tour Design (VDT) in...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Gerontology
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Globally, dementia prevalence is rising, causing public concern.
• Understanding and support for individuals with dementia remain insufficient.
• There is a need for innovative public health education tools to address dementia.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of virtual reality (VR) on public awareness and empathy towards dementia.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of a Virtual Dementia Tour (VDT) intervention.
• To explore VR's potential in fostering dementia-friendly societies.

Main Methods:

• Developed a Virtual Dementia Tour (VDT) simulating dementia impairments with interactive elements.
• Recruited 80 adults in Hong Kong with no prior dementia experience.
• Assessed changes in Dementia Attitudes Scale (DAS) scores using paired and independent samples t-tests.

Main Results:

• Baseline dementia awareness and understanding were low across participants.
• The VDT group showed significantly greater improvements in knowledge and empathy compared to the control group.
• VR intervention effectively enhanced participants' attitudes towards dementia.

Conclusions:

• Virtual reality interventions are effective in promoting dementia awareness and empathy.
• VR can help reduce stigma associated with dementia.
• VR serves as an innovative tool for public health education and building dementia-friendly communities.