📋 How Virtual and Augmented Reality Can Help Caregivers (AARP Article)

Content starts here

CLOSE ×

AARP MEMBERSHIP

AARP Membership — $15 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal

Get instant access to members-only products, hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine.

Join Now

Renew Now

You're this close to getting so much more ...

Get access to this and all Members-Only discussions, plus a world of member Benefits when you Join AARP!

Become an AARP Member for $12 Already a member? Login >

Members Only

My Settings Guidelines

📋 How Virtual and Augmented Reality Can Help Caregivers (AARP Article)

FROM THE ARTICLE - SEE ARTICLE FOR MORE!!!

The Promise of AR/VR and Neuro Stimulation in Family Caregiving.

New tech can offer relaxation, healing for caregivers and care recipients without leaving home.

By Lee Woodruff, AARP. Published September 30, 2024.

When my father was failing with Alzheimer’s, some of our most tender moments were spent in the car. I’d sign him out of his assisted living facility, and we’d drive past farmland, saltbox homes and cranberry bogs outside Boston. Conversation was limited, but then I’d slip in a Frank Sinatra CD and watch his entire being change as the music entered his brain. A smile moved across his face, his shoulders relaxed, and with both feet tapping, he seemed transported to a 1950’s high school dance in Ridgewood, New Jersey.

Today’s caregivers can help their loved ones have a similarly immersive experience using virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) devices that are designed to elicit positive feelings and, in some cases, reduce stress. The tech doesn’t need to be complex and expensive. Something as simple as a free mindfulness app on a smartphone can offer benefits — for both caregivers and the people they are caring for.

https://www.aarp.org/caregiving/basics/info-2024/ar-vr-for-caregivers.html