Digital Learning Technology for Dementia Care Training in Long-term Care Professionals

Summary

Dementia, including cognitive decline and behavioral and psychiatric symptoms of dementia (BPSD), presents a significant challenge to long-term care systems and family caregivers. While various digital educational resources are available, long-term care professionals often face challenges in practical care skills, communication, and emotional coping when managing individuals with moderate to severe dementia. To address these needs, a dementia education program integrating digital learning technologies was proposed to offer a meaningful, collaborative learning experience.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of this immersive learning dementia education program on long-term care professionals' dementia care knowledge, attitudes, and interprofessional collaboration competence (as the primary outcome variables).

This study utilized a quasi-experimental, waitlist control group pre- and post-test design. This study utilized a quasi-experimental, waitlist control group pre- and post-test design. Long-term care professionals were recruited from 12 community-based long-term care institutions in Taiwan. Participants were assigned to either the intervention group or the waitlist control group based on the order of enrollment.

The intervention group participated in an 8-hour, 4-unit immersive training program held during non-working hours. The curriculum included: an advanced dementia care lecture and case discussions; Virtual Reality (VR) dementia symptom simulation (using HTC VIVE Flow headsets) followed by reflective debrief; Augmented Reality (AR) interactive skill training (using the MAKAR Viewer mobile app); and experience sharing on ethical and legal issues in dementia care.

The waitlist control group maintained their routine continuing education during the study period and received the identical 8-hour training program after the follow-up assessments were completed.

All participants completed standardized questionnaires at three time points: at baseline (pre-test), immediately following the intervention (post-test), and at a 3-month follow-up. The outcomes measured included dementia care knowledge, dementia care attitudes, and interprofessional collaboration levels.

Conditions

• Long-Term Care Professionals
• Dementia Knowledge and Attitudes
• Interprofessional Collaboration
• Dementia Education Program

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Dementia care education program

an 8-hour digital learning dementia care education program

BEHAVIORAL

Routine education

Maintaind routine education and completed parallel tests at T0, T1, and T2. The identical 8-hour digital learning dementia care program was provided to this group after T2 data collection ends.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Kaohsiung Medical University

  collaborator OTHER

• Tunghai University

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

64 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2025-08-25

Primary Completion

2026-06-08

Completion

2026-06-08

Countries

• Taiwan

Study Locations