Enhancing empathy and attitudes toward dementia among formal caregivers through virtual reality: a randomized...

Enhancing empathy and attitudes among formal caregivers is essential for improving dementia care quality. However, traditional educational approaches often lack the emotional depth needed to foster person-centered care. The primary objective was to evaluate whether an immersive virtual reality (VR) intervention produced greater improvements than a traditional lecture-based education program in empathy and dementia attitudes; secondary outcomes were caregiver burden and psychological distress.

This parallel-group randomized controlled trial involved 160 formal caregivers randomly assigned to an immersive VR intervention or a time-matched lecture-based comparator. The intervention was delivered as a single 3-hr session comprising three consecutive VR segments, each followed by guided small-group reflection, with brief breaks between segments. Outcomes were measured at baseline, post-intervention, and at 1 month. Analyses followed the intention-to-treat principle using generalized estimating equations.

The VR intervention group exhibited greater improvements in empathy (2.21, 95% CI: 0.42-4.01, p = .016) and attitudes toward dementia (1.18, 95% CI: 0.18-2.17, p = .021) immediately post-intervention compared to the control group. However, these effects were not sustained at the 1-month follow-up.

A single-session, multi-segment VR program can produce immediate improvements in empathy and attitudes toward dementia compared with lecture-based education. As effects were not maintained at 1 month, implementation may pair modular VR with low-burden refreshers to support durability while maintaining feasibility. Future research should compare delivery schedules and assess longer-term and behavioral outcomes.

NCT06072274.