For Allison Healy, RN-BC, the Virtual Dementia Tour® — a training simulation intended to imitate the effects of dementia — was a life-changing moment.
“I now have personal insight into how individuals with dementia experience our everyday world, and I can empathize with how discouraged they may be feeling,” said Healy, clinical nurse leader/senior care coordinator at Princeton Medical Center (PMC). “I truly believe the experience made me a better nurse and an even better nurse educator.”
The Virtual Dementia Tour, or VDT®, is an evidence-based simulation developed by P.K. Beville, founder of Second Wind Dreams®, an Atlanta-based nonprofit organization working to change the perception of aging and provide education about dementia. The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that 1 in 10 Americans 65 and older have Alzheimer’s disease, the most common type of dementia. As the population continues to age, the number of people with dementia is expected to increase significantly.
PMC began offering the VDT in early 2017, after Healy and nursing assistant Andrew Aupperle experienced the simulation at a conference sponsored by NICHE — Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders — a program promoting patient-centered care for older adults.
Healy and Aupperle received training as facilitators so they could provide the VDT to Princeton Health employees. The tour, which takes approximately 10 minutes, is part of an hour-long educational course on the challenges faced by individuals with dementia.
Elements of the tour are not publicized in great detail so that staff members enter the training fresh. Participants meet with facilitators who guide them through the tour and outfit them with components that alter their senses. Tasks and exercises included in the VDT enable participants to experience for themselves the physical and mental challenges facing those with dementia.
“People come out of the simulation overwhelmed with different emotions,” Healy said. “Health care providers begin to better understand their patients. Other staff members may have a relative with dementia, and this simulation helps them to gain a new perspective and connect with these individuals on a different level.”
To date, 368 Princeton Health staff members have taken the VDT. It is mandatory training for direct-care workers in some departments, including the Acute Care of the Elderly Unit, which is specially designed and equipped to care for frail, acutely ill seniors. The tour is offered on a voluntary basis to clinical and non-clinical staff in other departments throughout Princeton Health.
Training sessions are offered every other month. In the fall, Princeton Health will make the VDT available to a select number of community members as well. The training is supported by the Arnold H. and Katherine M. Snider Geriatric Endowment Fund, a gift dedicated to promoting exceptional geriatric care throughout Princeton Health.