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A Novel VIRTUAL Reality Intervention for CAREgivers of People With Dementia (VirtualCare)

NCT05780476 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 127

Last updated 2026-04-01

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

This clinical trial aims to explore if a virtual reality experience increases the beneficial effect of psychoeducational programs in informal caregivers of people with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease. This study will test changes in psychological distress and neural activity in brain systems that regulate stress and empathic care.

Participants will be randomized into two arms: the control group will participate in an online psychoeducational intervention, while the experimental group will participate in the psychoeducational intervention combined with virtual reality.

Conditions

  • Caregiver Burden

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Psychoeducation

6 sessions of 2 hours over 6 weeks

BEHAVIORAL

Psychoeducation + virtual reality

6 sessions of 2 hours over 6 weeks. Virtual reality experience will be carry out in the last 30 minutes of each meeting. Virtual reality consists of 360-degree videos depicting everyday situations and allowing the caregivers to feel the specific symptoms of dementia (e.g., disorientation, agnosia, apraxia and memory loss).

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Alzheimer's Association

    collaborator OTHER

  • University of Bergamo

    collaborator OTHER

  • IRCCS Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Cristina Festari, PhD · IRCCS Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, Brescia, Italy

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
SINGLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2022-10-27
Primary Completion
2025-02-27
Completion
2025-07-31

Countries

  • Italy

Study Locations

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Entities

Companies

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT05780476 on ClinicalTrials.gov