Dr Michelle Dickinson: Nanotechnologist on whether VR tech can help people living with dementia

Imagine walking through a peaceful forest, listening to birdsong, or watching the waves roll in on a sunny beach. Now imagine doing all of that without ever leaving your chair. 

New research published in the American Journal of Health Behaviour took a group of older adults living with dementia and gave them this experience in a study exploring the benefits of virtual reality. 

The study looked at how nature-themed virtual reality sessions could help improve emotional well-being and quality of life for people with Alzheimer’s disease. The research team worked with 11 residents at a long-term memory care facility, all diagnosed with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s. 

Over five weeks, participants took part in two 20 to 30-minute VR sessions each week. Using a program called Nature Treks VR, they were transported to peaceful landscapes like forests, meadows, and oceans complete with animated animals and plants they could interact with. 

While nature is known to have powerful calming and restorative effects, many people living with dementia face challenges getting outdoors. Limited mobility, safety concerns, and lack of access to green spaces can make it hard to enjoy the real thing. That’s where virtual reality came in offering a safe, indoor way to connect with the natural world. 

After five weeks of virtual nature sessions, participants reported feeling more positive emotions like pleasure and alertness and fewer negative ones, such as sadness, anxiety, and anger. They also said their overall quality of life had improved. 

And it wasn’t just the numbers that told the story. In interviews, both participants and their caregivers shared heart-warming feedback. Many spoke of how much they enjoyed exploring the virtual environments, how exciting it was to try something new, and how the experiences sparked fond memories from the past. 

One key moment came when participants recalled special places from their childhoods, or family holidays by the sea showing that virtual nature didn’t just offer relaxation, but also helped trigger meaningful memories and emotional connections.

The study offers a hopeful glimpse into how technology can be used in care settings not to replace real-world experiences, but to offer new ways to connect, explore, and improve quality of life when the real world isn’t always accessible.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks EDB.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Doctor Michelle Dickin said, good morning, good morning. Okay, you've
got a science study for us. What have you got?

Speaker 3 (00:18):
I love? I don't know. Have you done virtual reality?
If you put on a headset and.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Look, I've attempted it once or twice years ago. Yeah,
it's so good. I think when was it an arts
festival or something that was some sort of gimmicky thing
that you did. All yeah, it's kind of it. It's
quite bewildering the first time you do.

Speaker 3 (00:35):
It's so sort of I would say its.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
A bit amazing, but it's also a bit off put it.
But it's probably changed lots inside London as well.

Speaker 3 (00:41):
It's pretty cool and if you if you really want
to go, I want to immerse myself. There's some virtual
reality gaming rooms that are popping up where I go
and like bash aliens with my friends in like group games,
and it's petrifying, like you really feel like you're being
like hunted down by these like it's there are nice
games too, but it's good because you you immerse yourself
in an environment and your brain thinks that it's real,

(01:01):
and sure, shooting alien games are what I like to do.
But this new research which has come out of the
American Journal of Health Behavior has actually put virtual reality
systems on elderly patients in a care home who have dementia,
and their results have been astounding. Now, they didn't throw
aliens at them virtual reality. Instead, they created what they

(01:24):
called a nature escape. And so the volunteers took part
in two thirty minute virtual reality sessions each week for
a series of week where they went on nature treks
in virtual reality. They were immersed and transported to peaceful landscapes,
forest meadows, oceans, and there were little animals and plants
that they could interact with in this space. And basically,

(01:47):
the researchers know that nature is We all know that
if you got in nature, it's powerful, that's calming, it
has really restorative effects. But what they also know is
that many patients with dementia can't get outdoors. They just
isn't the staff ratio number to get patients out of
these institutions and get outside to the beach in this

(02:09):
safe environment. So a lot of these patients, especially if
they have limited mobility, actually don't go to green spaces
and they can't enjoy the real thing?

Speaker 2 (02:17):
Is it because nature calms us that makes us breathe better?

Speaker 1 (02:22):
Like?

Speaker 2 (02:22):
Is there a do we know whether it's nature or
the impact it has on our what impact it actually
has on our body? You know what I mean? I'm
trying to say, Like, is it about the breathing? Is
it about I don't know.

Speaker 3 (02:36):
Well, what they found in this study is actually in
these patients with dementia, and many of them struggled with memory,
going virtually to a place that they hadn't been to
in a long time actually triggered really meaningful positive memories.
So often nature is a positive place that we've had
in our life, and so they had emotional connections of

(02:56):
a time that they were at the beach when they
were a child, and so it created a positive memory
and it sort of brought that back that they hadn't
been able to trigger. And so after five weeks of
these virtual nature sessions, the volunteers reported feeling more positive,
like more pleasurable, more alert, and had fewer negative emotions
such as sadness, anxiety, and anger. And they stated that

(03:20):
they felt that the overall quality of life had improved
and they hadn't been anywhere they just put on a
VR headset for thirty minutes twice a week. But yeah,
like I said, the real thing was they started to
recall special places from their childhood. They started to recroll
family holidays by the sea. So it wasn't just offering relaxation,
it was triggering these positive memories that reminded them of

(03:43):
positive spaces and put them in a positive space.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
A but like music, we hear music can have that's
un really fair.

Speaker 3 (03:49):
And so it's a super cute study and it's basically
it says, can virtual nature help people living with dementia?
And it's a solid yes. And when you think about
how cheap virtual reality is, and how have you had
a few in these care homes and you set up
a schedule. It's not the same as getting outside, but
if you can't take the patients outside, it's sort of
the next best thing. And off there's a glimpse into

(04:11):
how some of these technologies can be used in these
care settings to help just connect and improve quality of
life when the real world isn't always accessible. And I
love these studies. Virtual reality has been shown to have
so many positive effects with pain management and patients going
through like it just goes on and on and on.
I don't know why they're not everywhere because they just

(04:31):
seem to have so many positive effects. So if you
haven't tried on a vir headset and try one on.
If you want to go shoot aliens, cool, but there's
also some nice fun games you can do. Find a
VIA headset place and gaming room, just spend the money.
Do we all find our respite in different ways? Michelle,
Thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (04:46):
We'll talk next week for more.

Speaker 1 (04:48):
From the Sunday session with Francesca Rudgin. Listen live to
News Talks it'd be from nine am Sunday, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio