Social connectedness and the role of virtual reality: experiences and perceptions of people living with dementia and their caregivers

PurposePeople living with dementia are often at increased risk of becoming socially disconnected due to dementia-related challenges. In recent years, digital technology has been designed to help address the social health of people living with dementia and provide opportunities to promote or maintain their social connectedness. This paper presents the findings from phase two of a participatory action research project, which explored people living with dementia and their caregiver's experiences and perceptions of social connectedness and the potential role of Virtual Reality (VR) in promoting or maintaining same.Materials and MethodsPeople living with dementia (n = 8) and their informal caregivers (n = 8) participated in an individual, 1:1 online interview. Data analysis was guided by reflexive thematic analysis.ResultsThe findings presented four themes: social connectedness: lived experiences and insights, facilitating social connectedness, barriers to social connectedness and the potential of multi-user VR for social connectedness. People living with dementia experienced a range of personal, community and societal connectedness. Facilitators of social connectedness included supportive, non-judgemental, and reciprocal relationships, technology adoption, and personal and contextual facilitators. Dementia-related difficulties and periods of disruption or change were considered barriers to social connectedness. Multi-user VR was perceived as useful for promoting and maintaining social connectedness.ConclusionsThe perceived usefulness of multi-user VR for social connectedness indicates its potential for use with this population. Understanding the lived experiences, barriers, and facilitators of social connectedness will assist researchers and the human-computer interaction community to inform the design of future multi-user VR for social connectedness outcomes with people living with dementia and their caregivers. People living with dementia and their caregivers consider social connectedness a vital aspect of living well with dementia.People living with dementia experience social connectedness across personal, community and societal domains.Supportive, non-judgemental or reciprocal relationships, fostering technology, and personal and contextual factors facilitate social connectedness for people living with dementia.Dementia-related barriers and periods of disruption and change can negatively impact the social connectedness of people living with dementia.People living with dementia and their caregivers consider multi-user virtual reality a promising technology to promote and maintain their social connectedness.