Ever since Virtual Reality has risen from being an idea on paper into becoming a reality in the most wondrous form of technology we see today, a multitude of promising and worthy spheres of its application have come to light. One such recent campaign has gained due attention as it could possibly be a breakthrough in the medical world using VR to the best of its capabilities.
The Forest Project is one such innovative move that holds the potential to treat patients living with Dementia which is a condition of the brain that decreases the ability to think and remember. Then again, Can virtual reality trigger the lost or subsided memories?
A home care service for the aged in Melbourne employed short Virtual Reality sessions to entertain the residents of the aged-care home which somehow projected unbelievably positive results in the behavior of a few residents who had earlier isolated themselves from the rest. However, VR sessions have helped them significantly to interact with the other patients as mentioned by the Mercy health and lifestyle Volunteer and manager Karren Gooding.
The aged-care home houses 22 patients with possible disorders of dementia who for the last five months have been subjected to the VR technology in terms of a few minute long virtual reality tours specifically designed to trigger early memories, after a period of every 2-4 days.
As per Gooding’s observations, the patients have become more engaging and open to communications with other patients or residents which is why Mercy Health and Lifestyle as decided to propagate this campaign which was earlier active in just two of their aged-care homes, further to all of the 22 centers across Australia.
With so many people suffering from Dementia, Virtual Reality can surely be a ray of hope in the lives of the patients suffering from Dementia and their loved ones.
