Geriatrics

These days, healthcare professionals are faced with various and complex problematics. Indeed, elderly people often have mood disorders (depression, anxiety disorders, sleeping disorders). Somatic problems can be worsened by these different troubles (chronic pain, health issues). Cognitive fall, with or without pathology, lived by the elderly patient exacerbates behavioral disorder and a loss of autonomy. Virtual reality is a non-medicines alternative to take care of cognitive disorders and work on their mood. This will offer them better living conditions without any risks linked to psychotropic drugs.

VIRTUAL REALITY IN SENIORS’ SERVICES

More than ever, in geriatrics, it’s major to make therapeutic application treatments evolve. Retirement homes facing ethical dilemmas have a lack of alternative solutions. Virtual reality is a smart solution to therapeutics limits. Science and technology are combined to create non-medicine treatments, and gives a great interest in geriatrics. It’s actually the most promising alternative therapy. Researchers and clinicians are excessively enthusiastic about this technology in the aging process.

Applications presented in C2Care solutions are made thanks to collaborative work between our engineering team and our medical partners. Our medical team is composed of geriatric doctors, neuropsychologists and psychiatrists specialized in geriatrics. For retirement homes, C2Care is the new therapeutic solution. Easy to use and very intuitive, our software has been thought to be used for elderly people who are losing their autonomy. Healthcare professionals won’t have any issues using the software, and the software will be helpful to create new medical and social activities.

What’s in the retirement homes pack ?

To answer to seniors’ needs, many therapeutic software can be found in the pack:

• Cognitive stimulation
• Qualitative neuropsychological evaluation
• Relaxation
• Behavioral activation

Integrating virtual reality as a therapeutic solution and animations’ facilitator in your residents daily life is possible with these applications. You can also create group sessions with our multiple-headset solutions, to create a group dynamic in virtual reality (cognitive stimulation, relaxation…). Finally, virtual reality therapies really are non-medicine therapies.

Virtual reality and seniors : Feasibility, efficiency and the science’s eye

Developing a project based on retirement homes was essential : geriatrics has a lack of efficient tools to answer cognitive, emotional and behavioral falls on elderly people.

Nowadays, many medicines are used in cognitive fall care. But working with other types of approaches will be helping to work on different multifactorial aspects. This is why non-medicine therapies are highlighting researchers and clinician’s interest. Virtual reality gives an innovative and promising alternative to regular therapies

The scientific research validates the elderly people’s acceptability to virtual reality but also spotlight its efficiency in the aging process and in the end of life process. So, we have developed our software based on existing significant studies.

What are the studies saying ?

Authors working on new technology and health have found significant results. For example, Gracia-Betances (2015), have highlighted some qualities about using virtual reality with patients :

• Accessibility
• Sensorial use
• Sharp treatment of cognitive functions
• Direct feedback
• Therapeutic engagement improved
• General improvement of life conditions

Optale (2010) has proved virtual reality efficiency in the improvement of elderly people’s memory abilities. Man (2011) has attestated these results as well with more informations. Wallet and al. (2011) are seeing virtual reality as a useful tool for skills generalization. Recently, D’Cunha has valorised virtual reality as a facilitator to improve senior’s life conditions and the cognitive fall.

By developing our software for retirement homes, more than ever, we wanted to give seniors the possibility to be treated with non-medicine therapies.

Sensorial stimulation in virtual reality

Physiology and behavioral work:
Studies show that using Snoezelen in geriatrics is efficient on the physiological part (Bailly & Pointereau, 2011) and on psychobehavioral part (Andreeva & al., 2011). After a snoezelen session, elderly people are more stressless and calm. Letting go of negative emotions is helped by the fact that the cardiac rhythm and the blood pressure decrease. Agitation, aggressivity and anxiety are decreasing with the Snoezelen technique. The most vulnerable residents can use it too : being immersed in their own space will make them feel reassured and with the desire to share their experiment. Also, for people with communications skills, it’s easier to discuss with caregivers or surroundings. Snoezelen gives the desire to go back on doing things again.

Psychogeriatrics:
Van Weert & al (2005) have analyzed records of videos of snoezelen patient’s first experience up to 18 months

What are the long term effects ?

Many significant effects can be seen on long-term :

• Number of smiles and verbal exchanges rise
• Autonomy feeling
• Fall of angriness and reprobations

This non-medicine approach as a therapeutic approach give a smart and economic program. With this innovante alternative, resident’s life conditions and caregivers’ functions are increased. Therefore, the communication between caregivers and residents (oral or not) is clearly better.

Mutual calm:
Sensorial stimulation can be, for example, realized before washing your patient to be done in a calm atmosphere. Showering and other treatments are easier and more fluid. Resident’s behavioral modification obviously has an impact on caregiver’s daily life in retirement homes : Relaxed residents are making calm caregivers. This improved communication gives a satisfying relationship, and creates a new complicity. Indirectly, Snoezelen gives better working conditions.

C2CARE Research and Development

C2Care also has a scientific committee and partnerships. Each expertise guides our virtual reality environments’ creations. Our software has been thought to be easily used for the patients and for the caregivers. Software included in the retirement homes usually don’t need the use of the remotes to make it easier for people with motor or practice disorders. Moreover, the headset can be independently used. That’s why, it easily can be carried and used from a patient to another, without any computer’s need.