Virtual Dementia Tour offers genuine insight to world patients have to live in
When the team from Dovida invited this Westmeath Examiner representative to try their immersive Virtual Dementia Tour experience on the Market Square, he wasn’t expecting to feel completely disoriented.
It was when John from Training2care gave the three us trying it out the headphones to add to the thick gloves that restricted finger movement, the dark glasses that severely restricted vision, and the spiky insoles for our shoes, and then opened the door to a darkened space with just flashing lights that it hit me. It was some version of mild panic and nausea. I felt it in the pit of my stomach. I had to remove the headphones that were blaring constant, unintelligible sounds of voices, music, traffic, and I don’t know what else, in order to compose myself before I could enter that room.
I don’t have dementia, so removing the headphones and taking a moment to compose myself meant I could then enter the darkened room. John told us to “do something useful” (afterwards he said he had spoken in a normal tone and volume, but I could just about hear him over the racket in the headphones), and when I started to lift and organise dishes in what was set up to simulate a home kitchen, John gently came over and took them out of my hands.
Presumably, that is what dementia patients have to deal with all the time – carers and others helping them, or not allowing them even a small bit of independence, all be it with the best of intentions.
The other elements of the experience – the sensations in the feet caused by the spiky insoles, the lack of dexterity due to the thick gloves, the poor vision, and mostly, the awful, relentless noise – are also what people with dementia have to live with.
Experiencing the immersive Virtual Dementia Tour has given me a new level of empathy for dementia patients and their carers. Living with dementia really is like living in a different, parallel, world.
The Virtual Dementia Tour, known as the ‘dementia bus’ or ‘dementia simulator’, is visiting each of the 25 Dovida locations, during which 800 people will take part. As well as offering family members a valuable insight into the inner life of someone living with dementia, Dovida are also using the dementia bus to offer their caregivers and local healthcare professionals the experience.
Lorraine McLaughlin, general manager of Dovida Midlands, said: “This is a uniquely immersive training course which allows people to walk in the shoes of a person living with dementia. There are currently 64,000 people living with dementia in Ireland, and that number is projected to double by 2045. It’s crucial that as many people as possible gain a better understanding of the condition, so we can empathise with what people are going through,” Lorraine added.
The dementia bus adds to Dovida’s caregiver training and contributes to a more holistic approach to caring for people with the condition.
“As well as the practical element of home care, the emotional and companionship elements are also hugely important. Initiatives such as the dementia bus help us to build on our current training and empower our caregivers to deliver the best possible care and support to our clients,” Lorraine said.