P2‐520: ENHANCING DEMENTIA CARE AND BUILDING EMPATHY THROUGH THE INTEGRATION OF VIRTUAL REALITY TECHNOLOGY AND ART THERAPY

Bringing Art to Life (BATL) is an innovative service learning program that uses art therapy and life story preservation to enrich the lives of persons with Alzheimer's disease and other causes of dementia (PWD) and their care partners. The program is currently being deployed in Chicago, IL and Tuscaloosa, AL with both college and high school students in partnership with long term care facilities (assisted living and adult daycare). As part of the program, students prepare to interact with the residents by learning about dementia and taking part in simulations. In the most recent iteration of the BATL program, high school students in Chicago experienced a virtual reality simulation that allowed them to embody Alfred, a 74-year-old African-American man with suspected mild cognitive impairment, age-related macular degeneration, and high frequency hearing loss. Students who embodied Alfred reported a stronger interest in healthcare careers, slightly stronger interest in working with aging adults, greater understanding of, and empathy for the perspective of older adults, and decreased use of stereotypical words in describing aging. Students agreed that the VR experience was an engaging and valuable part of the BATL curriculum, promoting personal reflection on their own experiences with older adults, family members and PWD. In addition, students were able to translate the embodied experience to help them communicate and work effectively with PWD as they went through the BATL activities. More extensive research is needed to measure the impact of the VR experience on the quality of students’ interactions with PWD and may allow the extrapolation of positive results to broaden the use of VR simulation in any service learning experience related to aging and dementia, as well as for staff training in both acute and long-term care facilities. Revision of data collection methods, followed by expansion and repetition of the VR simulation for further investigation are planned for Fall 2018 in both Alabama and Chicago.