Dementia Care Research and Psychosocial Factors

Be EPIC-VR is a novel person-centered communication training program for frontline healthcare workers who support persons living with dementia. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of Be EPIC-VR on increasing frontline staff's use of person-centered communication (PCC) during care interactions.

Personal support workers were assigned to either the immediate training group (N = 26) or the wait-list control group (N = 18). Participants engaged in a 10-minute video-recorded interaction with a virtual avatar depicting a person living with dementia pre- and post-training. Conversation data was transcribed into communication units, coded if indicated and analyzed by frequency of occurrence for the use of PCC. Outcome measures were a) the proportions of Be EPIC-VR's PCC units (coded as recognition, negotiation, facilitation, validation) and b) the proportions of missed opportunities for PCC (coded as omissions or alternatives).

A 2 (Group: immediate training vs. control) by 2 (Time: pre vs. post) mixed ANOVA on the proportion of PCC units revealed a significant group by time interaction (F(1, 42) = 12.86, p < .001, η_p ² = .24). Simple effects analyses showed that the immediate training group exhibited a significant increase in PCC from pre- to post-training, whereas there was no change for the control group. Similarly, the ANOVA for missed opportunity revealed a significant group by time interaction (F(1, 42) = 17.28, p < .001, η_p ² = .29). Follow-up simple analyses showed that the immediate training group exhibited a significant decrease in missed opportunities for PCC from pre- to post-training, whereas the control group had no change. Additional one-way repeated measures ANOVA analysis combined participants who completed Be EPIC-VR (immediate training and waitlist group once they completed training). There were significant increases in PCC (F(1,43)=34.19, p < .001, η_p ²=.44) and significant decreases in missed opportunities (F(1,43)=34.59, p < .001, η_p ²=.45) from pre- to post-Be EPIC-VR training in this combined group.

Findings show that Be EPIC-VR enhanced person-centered communication, which is essential for optimizing quality of care. The findings highlight the importance of performance-based outcomes when assessing person-centered care interventions.