Abstract
This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a virtual dementia simulation on OT and nursing students’ empathy levels. Students who participated in this simulation developed increased levels of empathy and insight into future care.
Primary Author and Speaker: Julie Larouche
Contributing Authors: Suzanne Parkman, Ashley Condon
This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a virtual dementia simulation on occupational therapy (OT) and nursing students’ empathy levels and propose practical rationales for optimizing future dementia care. An embedded mixed methods design guided the study involving a quasi-experimental quantitative strand in which participants served as their control group and a qualitative strand was embedded into a larger quantitative design. Students (N=124) participated in a one-time virtual dementia simulation followed by a one-hour focus group debriefing session. The Kiersma-Chen Empathy Modified Scale (KCES-R) was used as a pre-survey, post-survey after the simulation, and post-survey 6 weeks later. Data was analyzed in SPSS using a one-way ANOVA test. Preliminary quantitative data revealed a difference approaching significance in pre-and post-surveys. Qualitative findings found five themes: 1) cultivating empathy skills, 2) empathy overconfidence bias, 3) disturbing, 4) power dynamics, and 5) transformative realization. The study found that students who participated in the virtual reality interventions developed increased levels of empathy and new insight into how they would provide care to individuals with dementia. These findings support using virtual reality in educational practice for healthcare students to increase empathy toward individuals with dementia and may advise healthcare educators on best teaching practices to address student empathy during patient care.
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