CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 61Dementia and Cognitive Impairment ResearchVirtual Reality Applications and ImpactsGeriatric Care and Nursing Homes

The Effect of Reminiscence Therapy Using Virtual Reality on Apathy in Residential Aged Care: Multisite Nonrandomized Controlled Trial

Open access
Saredakis, Dimitrios, Keage, Hannah AD, Corlis, Megan, Ghezzi, Erica S, Loffler, Helen, Loetscher, Tobias·2021·Journal of Medical Internet Research
DOI 10.2196/29210PMC PMC8491119

Published version of a preprint

Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

Background: Apathy is a frequent and underrecognized neurological disorder symptom. Reduced goal-directed behavior caused by apathy is associated with poor outcomes for older adults in residential aged care. Recommended nonpharmacological treatments include person-centered therapy using information and communication technology. Virtual reality (VR) in the form of head-mounted displays (HMDs) is a fully immersive technology that provides access to a wide range of freely available content. The use of VR as a therapy tool has demonstrated promise in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder and anxiety. In addition, VR has been used to improve conditions including depression, anxiety, cognitive function, and balance in older adults with memory deficits, Alzheimer disease, and Parkinson disease. Research using VR for the symptoms of apathy in older adults living in residential aged care facilities is limited. Objective: This study aims to examine whether using HMDs as a tool for reminiscence therapy improves the symptoms of apathy compared with using a laptop computer and physical items with older adults living in residential aged care. Methods: In this multisite trial, 43 participants were allocated to one of three groups: reminiscence therapy intervention using VR in the form of HMDs, reminiscence therapy using a laptop computer supplemented by physical items if required (active control), and a usual care (passive control) group. The primary outcome was apathy, and the secondary outcomes included cognition and depression. The side effects of using HMDs were also measured in the VR group. Results: Mixed model analyses revealed no significant group interaction over time in outcomes between the VR and laptop groups (estimate=−2.24, SE 1.89; t40=−1.18; P=.24). Pooled apathy scores in the two intervention groups compared with the passive control group also revealed no significant group interaction over time (estimate=−0.26, SE 1.66; t40=−0.16; P=.88). There were no significant secondary outcomes. Most participants in the VR group stated that they would prefer to watch content in VR than on a flat screen (Χ22=11.2; P=.004), side effects from HMD use were negligible to minimal according to the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire cutoff scores. Conclusions: Although there were no significant results in outcome measures, this study found that participants engaged in the research and enjoyed the process of reminiscing using both forms of technology. It was found that VR can be implemented in an aged care setting with correct protocols in place. Providing residents in aged care with a choice of technology may assist in increasing participation in activities. We cannot dismiss the importance of immediate effects while the therapy was in progress, and this is an avenue for future research. Trial Registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12619001510134; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=378564. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID): RR2-DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-046030

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.2196/29210

Cites

97 of 97 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • The preparation of tailored VR content can be labor-intensive and time-consuming.

    “The preparation of tailored VR content can be labor-intensive and time-consuming (Saredakis et al., 2021).”

    From Facilitators and Barriers to Using Virtual Reality and its Impact on Social Engagement in Aged Care Settings: A Scoping Review (2023) · cites this paper as Saredakis et al., 2021

    Methods > Procedure (page unavailable) reports that a researcher spent approximately 60 minutes interviewing each participant to establish topics for personalized reminiscence sessions. This supports a time commitment to tailoring the sessions, but the paper does not say that preparing the VR content itself was labor-intensive or time-consuming. Discussion > Content (page unavailable) says the content could be sourced through readily available apps. (LLM, conf=0.76)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Saredakis, D., Keage, H. A., Corlis, M., Ghezzi, E. S., Loffler, H., & Loetscher, T.
Affiliations
University of South Australia (AU)
Corresponding author
Saredakis, Dimitrios
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Medical Internet Research
Publisher
JMIR Publications Inc.
Published
2021-09-20
Volume
23
Issue
9
Pages
e29210
ISSN
1438-8871 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.2196/29210
PMC
PMC8491119
OpenAlex
W3184629229
Cited by
61
References
97
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 6
FWCI
6.28
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Journal of Medical Internet Research (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • UniSA Research Outputs Repository (University of South Australia) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
  • Adelaide Research & Scholarship (AR&S) (University of Adelaide) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Australian Government
  • Medical Research Council
  • National Health and Medical Research Council (1135676, 1136269)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Geriatric Care and Nursing Homes
Keywords
apathy, reminiscence therapy, virtual reality, head-mounted displays, nursing homes, older adults, non-pharmacological treatment, simulator sickness, depression, cognition, client-centered therapy, information and communication technologies, Simulator Sickness Questionnaire
MeSH terms
Virtual Reality, Aged, Australia, Cognition, Humans, Parkinson Disease, Apathy

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review