The VR-CARES project is an innovative, collaborative effort that invites dementia care professionals into the design process of a virtual reality platform seeking to mitigate their work-related burden and social isolation by cultivating a virtual community of support. The co-created, caregiver-specific VR platform will serve as a safe, communal space where caregivers can remotely connect with their peers, share fun experiences together, access support, learn self-care and build resilience within a supportive virtual network to enhance their social and mental health and job satisfaction. Central to VR-CARES in the principle of user-led innovation, ensuring that the technology not only serves but is informed and successfully adopted by the very individuals it intends to benefit, an important standard for empathetic and inclusive technology in healthcare.
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AI-rewrites the medical criteria so a patient or caregiver can understand them. Always confirm with the trial site.
System Usability Scale (SUS) Score
Timeframe: Assessed at mid-point (T2 - 8 weeks, post Rendever social engagement VR platform) and end of study (T3 - 16 weeks, post VR-CARES caregiver support platform). T2 vs. T3 comparison provides usability data for each intervention phase.
Mean Change in Caregiver Job Satisfaction
Timeframe: Assessed at enrollment (T1- baseline), mid-point (T2- 8 weeks, post Rendever social engagement VR platform), and end of study (T3- 16 weeks, post VR-CARES platform) - allows detection of the impact of each intervention phase on job satisfaction change.
Mean Change in Caregiver Empowerment
Timeframe: Assessed at enrollment (T1- baseline), mid-point (T2- 8 weeks), and end of study (T3- 16 weeks) - allows identification of whether empowerment gains occur during the core social engagement phase, the caregiver-specific program, or accumulate across both.