Dementia Care Research and Psychosocial Factors

Area of Science:

• Gerontology and Dementia Care
• Health Professions Education
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Frontline dementia care providers require enhanced person-centered communication skills.
• Existing training methods may not adequately address the complexities of dementia care communication.
• Virtual reality (VR) offers a novel approach to skills training in healthcare settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the implementation factors of the Be EPIC-VR program in home and long-term care settings.
• To identify facilitators and barriers to adopting VR-based communication skills training for dementia care.
• To assess the impact of organizational and innovation characteristics on successful implementation.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR).
• Conducted semi-structured interviews with eight managers across four care settings in Ontario.
• Analyzed data using framework analysis across three time intervals: pre-intervention, two weeks, and five months post-intervention.

Main Results:

• Three emergent themes: need for dementia-specific training, intervention alignment with organizational culture, and openness to VR.
• Be EPIC-VR demonstrated relative advantage in addressing communication and responsive behavior training gaps.
• Successful implementation hinged on aligning the VR program with organizational goals, workflows, and staff competencies, with adaptability and support being critical.

Conclusions:

• Be EPIC-VR implementation is feasible and promising for enhancing dementia care communication skills.
• Addressing organizational readiness, tailoring resources, and fostering adaptability are crucial for VR training adoption.
• The study highlights the importance of integrating innovative technologies like VR into dementia care education.