Presentation
DH1 - A Systematic Classification of Virtual Reality Systems and Interventions on the Quality of Life for Older Adults
DescriptionObjective: We present a general rapid literature review for the classification of virtual reality (VR) systems and interventions for varying populations with an emphasis on older adults. We provide a rubric that consists of a set of considerations and various subcategories thereof that would help classify VR applications in the literature that address a diverse range of needs and issues for older adults such as preventing age-related cognitive decline, incentivizing physical activity, facilitating social engagement solutions, and reducing social isolation for older adults.
Background: Older adults may experience challenges in their daily lives due to normal cognitive aging process (Harada et al., 2013). These include declines in cognitive abilities (e.g., recalling information, processing memory and language), changes in social relationships (e.g., retirement), and physiological changes (e.g., muscle loss) which can often impact social, psychological, physical health. Irrespective of prevalence of dementia and mild cognitive impairments, those who do not have such problems might also experience subtle neurocognitive challenges because of normal aging. All these health problems may exacerbate over the course of time, which prompts researchers to seek out more customizable, engaging, and effective tools without necessitating a visit to a clinic for the patients. The concept of engaging with realistic virtual experiences has been explored in various forms, and with the rapid advancement of health technology, a large body of research has been devoted to the ability to support individuals with health-related applications (e.g., cognitive training, physical exercise, social engagement) (Barg-Walkow et al., 2017). Virtual reality applications hold substantial promise for older adults since they offer a window into a wide range of potential uses in neurocognitive health as well as encompassing its ability to enhance social connections and emotional well-being.
Methods: A rapid literature review was conducted in the field of virtual reality (VR) healthcare applications by searching four databases, namely, PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Engineering Village, and making use of components of the PRISMA guidelines. The review utilized key search terms used to describe “technology” “virtual reality” and “older adults” and “well-being” and “intervention” and “mixed methods” and “cognitive” and “psychological” and “psychosocial” or “physical”. The literature review was limited to peer-reviewed journal papers written in English. All four inclusion criteria had to be met for a study to be included: i) field studies utilizing VR to support cognitive, psychological, and physical activities, ii) field studies that would measure social interactions and/or motivate social connectedness, iii) research papers containing both qualitative and quantitative data, iv) research papers that address several healthcare issues in human factors and ergonomics.
Empirical evidence was presented in the study. Through a collaborative literature review process followed by a data collection form, a total of 50 papers were identified that primarily addressed VR applications in the healthcare of older adults. We introduce a comprehensive and quick assessment method for categorizing virtual reality (VR) systems and treatments aimed at different demographic groups, with a particular focus on the elderly. We carefully outline a list of factors and their related subcategories that can assist in categorizing VR applications mentioned in existing literature. These applications cater to a wide spectrum of requirements for older adults, including but not limited to preventing cognitive decline associated with aging, encouraging physical activity, supporting social interaction, and mitigating social isolation among the elderly.
Results: We conducted a rapid literature review and identified a number of 50 papers that aimed to quickly assess virtual reality (VR) applications and interventions for different demographic groups with a particular focus on the elderly, which would address various challenges due to normal aging processes. The areas of focus in these papers can be summarized as cognitive abilities, physical functioning, and social interaction. The review for virtual reality (VR) interventions and applications for older adults reveals that most of the authors seem to provide different definitions and classifications of VR, which albeit some similarities may confuse readers according to Gonçalves et al. (2022). Furthermore, some authors do not even provide any categories, which implies that the authors considered the definition as general culture.
We take this opportunity to judiciously delineate a collective rubric for VR interventions and applications in healthcare domain that can be used as a guideline and a better classification of future VR studies which address various health conditions in older adults due to normal aging. The rubric outlines a list of factors that can be utilized for a structured categorization of VR applications according to cognitive, psychological, psychosocial, and physical considerations and their corresponding subcategories.
We report that most of the research that has been conducted in the field of healthcare-related VR applications can fit into these categories. Another crucial observation to be made is that many studies involving VR for older adults primarily focused on aspects relevant to physical functioning and cognitive rehabilitation, mostly neglecting the realms of social interaction and cognitive engagement.
About 17 of the results showed that virtual reality has the potential to enhance social connectedness and emotional support in psychosocial considerations, whereas 28 of the studies demonstrated that VR games have significantly improved balance and physical function, with larger effects seen in balance-impaired patients. VR interventions are also reported to be a valuable platform for research on implicit/explicit memory differences, however, this is an emerging area, and the studies mentioned have some limitations, such as small sample sizes and basic VR environment.
Conclusion: We suggest that a feasibility analysis should be performed in the first place by taking into account the aforementioned considerations (cognitive, psychological, psychosocial, and physical) to assess the viability of the virtual reality (VR) application to be designed. It is indispensable to perform such an evaluation to better understand the needs of older adults who might have a decline in neurocognitive health due to normal aging. This sets the tone for the research study by understanding how diverse VR systems and interventions are, and therefore it renders possible for the scientific community to decide on which neurocognitive problem(s) and social engagements for older adults the VR application should effectively respond to. Designing a VR environment could entail several aims such as mitigating cognitive impairments, inducing more physical activity, preventing social isolation, and any combination thereof depending on the nature of the application. As we better understand the ramifications of these different types of considerations in VR applications, these classifications may also evolve.
Application: Despite the significant potential of virtual reality (VR) interventions and applications to support older adults, a great deal of studies of VR involving older adults focused mostly on physical functioning, and cognitive rehabilitation, ignoring social or cognitive engagement. To be able to incentivize researchers to address a more diverse set of needs for older adults, we present a general collective rubric for VR applications based on an intensive literature review. We believe that this rubric will be a potential tool for helping researchers identify and scrutinize several needs of older adults, especially in social and cognitive engagement.
References:
Barg-Walkow, L. H., Harrington, C. N., Mitzner, T. L., Hartley, J. Q., & Rogers, W. A. (2017). Understanding older adults’ perceptions of and attitudes towards exergames. Gerontechnology: international journal on the fundamental aspects of technology to serve the ageing society, 16(2), 81.
Harada, C. N., Love, M. C. N., & Triebel, K. L. (2013). Normal cognitive aging. Clinics in geriatric medicine, 29(4), 737-752.
Gonçalves, G., Coelho, H., Monteiro, P., Melo, M., & Bessa, M. (2022). Systematic review of comparative studies of the impact of realism in immersive virtual experiences. ACM Computing Surveys, 55(6), 1-36.
Background: Older adults may experience challenges in their daily lives due to normal cognitive aging process (Harada et al., 2013). These include declines in cognitive abilities (e.g., recalling information, processing memory and language), changes in social relationships (e.g., retirement), and physiological changes (e.g., muscle loss) which can often impact social, psychological, physical health. Irrespective of prevalence of dementia and mild cognitive impairments, those who do not have such problems might also experience subtle neurocognitive challenges because of normal aging. All these health problems may exacerbate over the course of time, which prompts researchers to seek out more customizable, engaging, and effective tools without necessitating a visit to a clinic for the patients. The concept of engaging with realistic virtual experiences has been explored in various forms, and with the rapid advancement of health technology, a large body of research has been devoted to the ability to support individuals with health-related applications (e.g., cognitive training, physical exercise, social engagement) (Barg-Walkow et al., 2017). Virtual reality applications hold substantial promise for older adults since they offer a window into a wide range of potential uses in neurocognitive health as well as encompassing its ability to enhance social connections and emotional well-being.
Methods: A rapid literature review was conducted in the field of virtual reality (VR) healthcare applications by searching four databases, namely, PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Engineering Village, and making use of components of the PRISMA guidelines. The review utilized key search terms used to describe “technology” “virtual reality” and “older adults” and “well-being” and “intervention” and “mixed methods” and “cognitive” and “psychological” and “psychosocial” or “physical”. The literature review was limited to peer-reviewed journal papers written in English. All four inclusion criteria had to be met for a study to be included: i) field studies utilizing VR to support cognitive, psychological, and physical activities, ii) field studies that would measure social interactions and/or motivate social connectedness, iii) research papers containing both qualitative and quantitative data, iv) research papers that address several healthcare issues in human factors and ergonomics.
Empirical evidence was presented in the study. Through a collaborative literature review process followed by a data collection form, a total of 50 papers were identified that primarily addressed VR applications in the healthcare of older adults. We introduce a comprehensive and quick assessment method for categorizing virtual reality (VR) systems and treatments aimed at different demographic groups, with a particular focus on the elderly. We carefully outline a list of factors and their related subcategories that can assist in categorizing VR applications mentioned in existing literature. These applications cater to a wide spectrum of requirements for older adults, including but not limited to preventing cognitive decline associated with aging, encouraging physical activity, supporting social interaction, and mitigating social isolation among the elderly.
Results: We conducted a rapid literature review and identified a number of 50 papers that aimed to quickly assess virtual reality (VR) applications and interventions for different demographic groups with a particular focus on the elderly, which would address various challenges due to normal aging processes. The areas of focus in these papers can be summarized as cognitive abilities, physical functioning, and social interaction. The review for virtual reality (VR) interventions and applications for older adults reveals that most of the authors seem to provide different definitions and classifications of VR, which albeit some similarities may confuse readers according to Gonçalves et al. (2022). Furthermore, some authors do not even provide any categories, which implies that the authors considered the definition as general culture.
We take this opportunity to judiciously delineate a collective rubric for VR interventions and applications in healthcare domain that can be used as a guideline and a better classification of future VR studies which address various health conditions in older adults due to normal aging. The rubric outlines a list of factors that can be utilized for a structured categorization of VR applications according to cognitive, psychological, psychosocial, and physical considerations and their corresponding subcategories.
We report that most of the research that has been conducted in the field of healthcare-related VR applications can fit into these categories. Another crucial observation to be made is that many studies involving VR for older adults primarily focused on aspects relevant to physical functioning and cognitive rehabilitation, mostly neglecting the realms of social interaction and cognitive engagement.
About 17 of the results showed that virtual reality has the potential to enhance social connectedness and emotional support in psychosocial considerations, whereas 28 of the studies demonstrated that VR games have significantly improved balance and physical function, with larger effects seen in balance-impaired patients. VR interventions are also reported to be a valuable platform for research on implicit/explicit memory differences, however, this is an emerging area, and the studies mentioned have some limitations, such as small sample sizes and basic VR environment.
Conclusion: We suggest that a feasibility analysis should be performed in the first place by taking into account the aforementioned considerations (cognitive, psychological, psychosocial, and physical) to assess the viability of the virtual reality (VR) application to be designed. It is indispensable to perform such an evaluation to better understand the needs of older adults who might have a decline in neurocognitive health due to normal aging. This sets the tone for the research study by understanding how diverse VR systems and interventions are, and therefore it renders possible for the scientific community to decide on which neurocognitive problem(s) and social engagements for older adults the VR application should effectively respond to. Designing a VR environment could entail several aims such as mitigating cognitive impairments, inducing more physical activity, preventing social isolation, and any combination thereof depending on the nature of the application. As we better understand the ramifications of these different types of considerations in VR applications, these classifications may also evolve.
Application: Despite the significant potential of virtual reality (VR) interventions and applications to support older adults, a great deal of studies of VR involving older adults focused mostly on physical functioning, and cognitive rehabilitation, ignoring social or cognitive engagement. To be able to incentivize researchers to address a more diverse set of needs for older adults, we present a general collective rubric for VR applications based on an intensive literature review. We believe that this rubric will be a potential tool for helping researchers identify and scrutinize several needs of older adults, especially in social and cognitive engagement.
References:
Barg-Walkow, L. H., Harrington, C. N., Mitzner, T. L., Hartley, J. Q., & Rogers, W. A. (2017). Understanding older adults’ perceptions of and attitudes towards exergames. Gerontechnology: international journal on the fundamental aspects of technology to serve the ageing society, 16(2), 81.
Harada, C. N., Love, M. C. N., & Triebel, K. L. (2013). Normal cognitive aging. Clinics in geriatric medicine, 29(4), 737-752.
Gonçalves, G., Coelho, H., Monteiro, P., Melo, M., & Bessa, M. (2022). Systematic review of comparative studies of the impact of realism in immersive virtual experiences. ACM Computing Surveys, 55(6), 1-36.
Event Type
Poster Presentation
TimeTuesday, March 264:45pm - 6:15pm CDT
LocationSalon C
Digital Health
Simulation and Education
Hospital Environments
Medical and Drug Delivery Devices
Patient Safety Research and Initiatives