Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35024166›Full record

ArticleJournal of rehabilitation and assistive technologies engineering

Virtual reality to promote wellbeing in persons with dementia: A scoping review.

Lora Appel, Suad Ali, Tanya Narag, Krystyna Mozeson, Zain Pasat, Ani Orchanian-Cheff, Jennifer L Campos

2 registry-linked trialsAbstract readScoping Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of rehabilitation and assistive technologies engineering. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 45 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
45citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT05867641 narecruitingnot on this map

VR&R: Providing Respite to Caregivers by Managing BPSDs and Improving QoL in People with Dementia Using Immersive VR-Therapy

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity Health Network, TorontoRan2025 to 2027Enrolled50ConditionsDementiaArmsImmersive VR Therapy in Head-Mounted Display (HMD) (Solo), Immersive VR Therapy in a Head-Mounted Display (HMD) (Social)
NCT06568211 naactive not recruitingnot on this map

VRx@Home: A Virtual Reality At-Home Intervention for Persons Living With Dementia and Their Care Partners

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity Health Network, TorontoRan2022 to 2025Enrolled60ConditionsDementiaArmsVirtual Reality, Tablet-Only
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

45 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

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  10. Neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer's disease: Bridging mechanisms, management, and emerging innovations.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Lora AppelSchool of Health Policy and Management, Faculty of Health, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7176-7191
Suad AliSchool of Health Policy and Management, Faculty of Health, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Tanya NaragSchool of Health Policy and Management, Faculty of Health, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Krystyna MozesonSchool of Health Policy and Management, Faculty of Health, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Zain PasatMcMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
Ani Orchanian-CheffUniversity Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9943-2692
Jennifer L CamposKITE Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7054-3946

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Virtual Reality (VR) technologies have increasingly been considered potentially valuable tools in dementia-related research and could serve as non-pharmacological therapy to improve quality of life (QoL) and wellbeing for persons with dementia (PwD). In this scoping review, we summarize peer-reviewed articles published up to Jan-21, 2021, on the use of VR to promote wellbeing in PwD. Eighteen manuscripts (reporting on 19 studies) met the inclusion criteria, with a majority published in the past 2 years. Two reviewers independently coded the articles regarding A) intended clinical outcomes and effectiveness of the interventions, B) study sample (characteristics of the participants), C) intervention administration (by whom, what setting), D) experimental methods (design/instruments), and E) technical properties of the VR-systems (hardware/devices and software/content). Emotional outcomes were by far the most common objectives of the interventions, reported in seventeen (89.5%) of the included articles. Outcomes addressing social engagement and personhood in PwD have not been thoroughly explored using VR. Based on the positive impact of VR, future opportunities lie in identifying special features and customization of the hardware/software to afford the most benefit to different sub-groups of the target population. Overall, this review found that VR represents a promising tool for promoting wellbeing in PwD, with positive or neutral impact reported on emotional, social, and functional aspects of wellbeing.

Indexed as

ADLdementiaheadsetHMDiADLquality of lifeVirtual realitywellbeing

Identifiers

PMID35024166
PMCPMC8743938

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.