Re:Garde Program - Training and Maintaining Visual Perception in Older Adults

Summary

Seniors deal with considerable visual demands (driving, communicating, traveling) and reduced vision affects their quality of life, ability to enjoy activities, and age-in-place. Vision loss has a heavy, increasing, economical and social burden. It can also have substantial impacts on caregivers physically, psychologically, and financially because one tends to miss more work, be less productive, and thus have fewer job opportunities.

This registration will describe the clinical portion of a larger study designed to evaluate both the feasibility and effectiveness of the Re:Garde Program, a Virtual Reality (VR) visual training program for older adults to help maintain visual perception to promote quality of life and prolonged independence. In partnership with our care partners the investigators will implement the Re:Garde Program at an interprofessional clinic and as part of a loaning program for older adults to use in the home.

The clinical portion of this study will look at how effective the Re:Garde program is at maintaining or improving visual perception, ability to conduct activities of daily living (e.g. read, drive, cook, exercise etc.), general wellness, and quality of life. The feasibility of implementing this program in the two settings will be evaluated separately as part of the full protocol.

Conditions

• Vision, Low
• Visual Impairment

Interventions

DEVICE

HMD: Immersive VR

The device application involves the 3D multiple-object-tracking (3D-MOT) paradigm composed of 8 high-contrast spheres which are adapted to the visual ability of participant (luminosity and size). The initial speed of the spheres is adjustable and determined during the inclusion visit. STIMULATION: One or more of the spheres is temporarily cued (target). Then all spheres move for 20 seconds following random linear paths, bouncing on one another and on the walls of a virtual 3D cube when collisions occur. After 20 seconds, the movement stops and the participant is asked to select, using a laser pointer, the initially cued target(s) among the eight spheres. If the selection is correct the speed of the spheres in the next trial is increased. If the selection is incorrect the speed of the spheres in the next trial is decreased. Based on performance, stimulations will be adjusted to change difficulty level (e.g. changing backgrounds, number of cued balls, etc.)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Perley Rideau

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• University Health Network, Toronto

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Michael Reber, PhD · University Health Network, Toronto

• Lora Appel, PhD · University Health Network, Toronto

Study Design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2023-10-26

Primary Completion

2024-06-27

Completion

2024-06-27

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations