Enhancing Healthcare Students' Attitudes Toward Dementia Care Through Virtual Reality Education

Summary

This quasi-experimental study focuses on Indonesian nursing students and aims to examine the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR) dementia educational programs. The study addresses the following research questions:

1. What is the current state of knowledge and awareness about dementia among participants before engaging in a VR dementia education program?
2. What is the effect of a VR dementia education program on improving participants' attitude, knowledge, and intention to help toward people living with dementia, and how are participants satisfied with the VR dementia education program? Participants will voluntarily join a 120-minute class education program, with each participant attending only once. The program, integrated into the faculty's dementia-related courses, will be structured around a series of components, including introduction, pre-program questionnaire, lecture, bad drama (unfriendly communication), bad version of VR, discussion, Lecture (about dementia), good VR, good drama, Lecture, N-impro, post-program questionnaire, and conclusion.

The VR education program will be included in dementia-related courses in the faculty of nursing.

Conditions

• Nursing Students
• Education Program on Dementia

Interventions

OTHER

The VR dementia education group

The intervention group will receive the VR dementia education program, which will be conducted once for each participant, and each session will accommodate a maximum of 20 participants. The VR dementia education program will follow the flow below, integrating video dramatizations, VR experiences, lectures, and discussions. The program is designed to simulate real-life dementia care situations, encourage reflection, and enhance nursing students' understanding of dementia management. The following are the steps for intervention: Introduction (3 minutes), Pre-Program Questionnaire (10 minutes), Lecture Introduction (2 minutes), Bad Drama (Unfriendly Communication) (10 minutes), Bad VR (10 minutes), Discussion (5 minutes), Lecture 1: What is Dementia? (10 minutes), Good VR (10 minutes), Good Drama (10 minutes), Lecture 2: What Can We Do to Support PLWD? (5 minutes), N-impro (10 minutes), Post-Program Questionnaire (10 minutes), Conclusion (5 minutes).

OTHER

The control group

The intervention begins with an introduction to the VR dementia program, outlining its objectives and setting participant expectations. A pre-program questionnaire follows to assess baseline knowledge, attitudes, and intention to assist people with dementia. A brief lecture introduces a dramatization showing ineffective communication with a PLWD, followed by a VR scenario highlighting poor care practices. After discussing these observations, participants attend a lecture explaining dementia's symptoms and progression, with culturally adapted video content for Indonesian audiences. Next, a positive VR scenario demonstrates best practices in dementia care, followed by a video on supportive communication. A second lecture offers practical strategies for caregiving and communication, complemented by an N-impro session to deepen understanding. The session concludes with a post-program questionnaire and final reflection to encourage real-world application of the learned skills.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Tokyo University

  collaborator OTHER

• Universitas Airlangga

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Dianis Wulan Sari, Ph.D · Faculty of Nursing, Universitas Airlangga

Study Design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-10-14

Primary Completion

2025-01-25

Completion

2025-05-25

Countries

• Indonesia

Study Locations