Immersive Technology and Virtual Reality as a Health Support Tool in a Residence for the Elderly

TOPMED

Status: Completed

Conditions: Aging Well

Treatments: Other: Individual assistance Virtual reality training sessions; Other: Collective assistance Virtual reality training sessions

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06117319

RD-277_VR and elderly

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this clinical trial is to learn more about the potential for using virtual reality in older adults living in residences for elderly to maintain health (physical activity, cognitive activity, social behaviors). The main questions it aims to answer are:

• To what extent can virtual reality be a tool to support health in older adults?
• What are the support needs of older adults in learning to use this immersive technology?

Participants are invited to complete 5 weekly training sessions on the use of a virtual reality headset. At the beginning and end of each session, participants will complete a questionnaire on their perception of their experience. During the sessions, the participants are asked to test games that mobilize the upper limbs. Two learning modalities are set up in two separate groups. These modalities aim to test two different support formulas in order to compare the support needs of the elderly in the use and integration of virtual reality to support the activities and health of this population.

Enrollment: 34 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 64+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Independent person living in the sponsor's retirement home

Exclusion criteria

• Having a pacemaker
• Being at risk for epilepsy

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

---

34 participants in 2 patient groups

Individual assistance

Experimental group

Description:

5 sessions with individual assistance The Virtual Reality (VR) activity will take the form of five (5) weekly training sessions. * Session 1(day 1): Basics of VR. * Session 2(day 8): 1-multiplayer game mode. * Session 3(day 15): Playing with a library. Browsing a library * Session 4(day 22): 2-individual game mode. * Session 5(day 29): Game practice. For each session, in small groups of 3 people, it will be proposed to test games requiring only movements of the upper limbs of low to moderate intensity. Sitting will be mandatory for the tests in order to avoid falls.

Treatment:

Other: Individual assistance Virtual reality training sessions

Collective assistance

Experimental group

Description:

4 sessions with collective assistance and 1 session with individual assistance (session 5) The Virtual Reality (VR) activity will take the form of five (5) training sessions. * Session 1(day 1): Basics of VR. * Session 2(day 8): 1-multiplayer game mode. * Session 3(day 15): Playing with a library. Browsing a library * Session 4(day 22): 2-individual game mode. * Session 5(day 29): Game practice. For each session, in small groups of 3 people, it will be proposed to test games requiring only movements of the upper limbs of low to moderate intensity. Sitting will be mandatory for the tests in order to avoid falls. The collective assistance group was abandonned because tests revealed issues with ability of participants to help each other during VR sessions. No participants were ever assigned to this group.

Treatment:

Other: Collective assistance Virtual reality training sessions