What is it about?
Immersive virtual reality (VR) can provide a distraction to address pain but community-based applications of this technology for older adults have not been studied. This study examined the applicability and effectiveness of 12 sessions of VR for pain, depression, and quality of life (QOL) in older adults at a community day center.
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Why is it important?
We found that the VR intervention was well accepted with no dropouts. There was a significant decrease in pain over 6 weeks, with no effect on depression and QOL. There were no adverse effects and positive perceptions of VR were reported for all participants.
Perspectives
The participants in our study were overwhelmingly enthusiastic about the technology and were willing to share their experiences with their peers. We hope to use this data to plan for future studies with other populations, specifically measuring the effect on meaningful occupation in addition to the measures utilized this study. We are interested in exploring if the experience was enjoyable because the sessions were occupation-based and meaningful to the client
Sara Benham
University of the Sciences in Philadelphia
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Immersive Virtual Reality for the Management of Pain in Community-Dwelling Older Adults, OTJR Occupational Therapy Journal of Research, December 2018, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/1539449218817291.
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