Baycrest

BrainMatters • Spring/Summer 2023 • 11 USING VIRTUAL REALITY TO REDUCE AGITATION AND AGGRESSION With the support of the Baycrest Innovation Office (BIO), Mara Swartz, the recreation therapist in the TBSU, introduced virtual reality as an innovative tool to use with residents during the pandemic. Virtual reality technology enables a person to interact with an artificial three-dimensional visual and auditory environment. While this technology is not new, its application in the long-term care sector, and particularly within the dementia space, is quite novel, and experts at Baycrest have developed protocols and processes to safely use virtual reality with older adults exhibiting behavioural issues. First, the recreation therapist gets to know the resident and their life story, often from family members and friends. For example, one resident spent many years as a pilot and greatly enjoyed — and missed — flying. On the clinical side, dementia had reduced the resident's ability to communicate, and their behavioural symptoms included wandering. The idea of using virtual reality was introduced as a possible solution to reduce the resident's desire to pace and wander while also providing an opportunity to "fly" again. The resident's response was significant: for the duration of the virtual reality session, the resident became engaged and began gesturing and responding to what they were seeing in the virtual reality headset. Another resident struggled with behaviour that included physical aggression. To help them relax, and with the knowledge they enjoyed adventure, a recreation therapist curated virtual reality sessions around activities from the resident's past, including scuba diving. The opportunity to re-live that experience, in addition to changes in medications, resulted in the resident becoming more verbal and expressive, and less agitated. WHAT'S NEXT FOR VIRTUAL REALITY AT BAYCREST The response to virtual reality in the TBSU has been overwhelmingly positive, with a wide range of opportunities and therapeutic applications that have yet to be explored. Teams across Baycrest are continuously collecting and analyzing resident experiences with virtual reality for the purpose of updating and improving Baycrest's programming, and to explore research opportunities to contribute to evidence-based practices and knowledge. In the meantime, BIO is eager to share lessons learned with long-term care institutions and other organizations and communities interested in adopting virtual reality as a possible solution for their own clients. Virtual reality pilot experience Virtual reality scuba diving experience To learn more about Baycrest's virtual reality journey from implementation to adoption, please contact innovation@baycrest.org.

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