Dovida brings immersive Virtual Dementia Tour experience to Meath

The Virtual Dementia Tour rolled into Trim last Friday as part of a nationwide campaign by Dovida to provide family members of people living with dementia with an insight into their loved one’s experience of the condition.

The Virtual Dementia Tour, commonly known as the ‘dementia bus’ or ‘dementia simulator’, will visit each of Dovida’s 25 locations during its journey, which will see 800 people take part throughout the campaign.

As well as offering family members a valuable insight into the inner life of someone living with dementia, the company is using the dementia bus as a vehicle to give its caregivers and local healthcare professionals an immersive training experience.

“This is a uniquely immersive training course which allows people to walk in the shoes of a person living with dementia,” Catherine Vodden, General Manager of Dovida Meath, said.

The dementia bus uses technology to replicate the sensory changes associated with dementia. Participants wear goggles, headphones, and spiky insoles. They are then asked to perform everyday tasks, but with distorted vision, loud noises, and sensory overload, which recreate what it’s like to have dementia.

The experience concludes with an expert-led debrief, which helps participants understand what they have experienced and offers helpful tips and strategies to make the world a better place for people living with dementia.

“It is really great to put yourself in the shoes of someone with dementia, and I definitely know more about it from the experience and the workshop we had today,” Dovida Caregiver, Grace Oladipo Omoyemwense, said.

Dovida provides person-centred home care to over 8,000 people across Ireland and offers accredited City & Guilds dementia care training through its Home Care Professionals Academy.