Using Rendever to improve the quality of life of older adults with cognitive impairments in senior living communities and their family members who live at a distance.

ABSTRACTThe United States is experiencing a public health crisis on a massive scale due to the number of people with dementia, lack of cures, and challenges associated with caregiving for this population.1,2 until cures for the dementias are discovered, new technologies and interventions are imperative that can reduce the stress and emotional burden of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Alzheimer’s disease-related-dementias (ADRD) for older adults and their family members (NIA strategic plan). Unfortunately, COVID-19 has exacerbated challenges related to social isolation and poor mental health in senior living communities. The virtual reality (VR) program, Rendever, provides an innovative and affordable solution to these challenges by enabling older adults in senior living communities to maintain important family relationships, engage fully with life, and reconnect with their past, regardless of physical location, through its advanced communication and network capabilities. There is neurological, behavioral, and physiological evidence that virtual environments allow people to feel the emotional presence of others in ways that surpass their location in space.3 Unfortunately, little research has examined its impact on older adults’ social relationships, primarily due to a lack of networking and communication capabilities of other VR programs. Phase I tested the feasibility of Rendever with residents with mild cognitive impairments (MCI) or mild to moderate dementia and their family members who lived at a distance. Our results showed it to be safe, easy to use, highly satisfying, and transformative for the 21 resident-family member dyads who used it. Residents with MCI and dementia equally loved the VR, with residents with dementia reporting greater immersion.This Phase II project expands our test of the live streaming and network features of Rendever with 192 resident-adult child dyads across 12 senior living communities in Central California and Boston with an experimental design. Our aims focus on the impact of Rendever on the quality of life of residents and their adult children who live at a distance and whether this association depends upon residents’ level of cognitive impairment. We also focus on the adult children and whether participating inRendever with their parent reduces care-giver guilt. If Phase II is successful, Rendever will be the only product that allows residents to still travel, view family photos and videos, and go back in time to one’s childhood home and other memorable locations with one’s family in VR and share stories while doing it, despite geographical separation and cognitive/physical challenges. Importantly, Phase II will provide a rigorous, scientific test of whether Rendever can improve residents’ and family members’ quality of life.