The Meaning of Immersive Virtual Reality From The Perspectives of Older Adults: A Qualitative Analysis

Abstract

Research Objectives To identify themes of the perspectives of the immersive virtual reality (VR) learning experience, the preferred occupational engagement methods of VR, and if VR provides meaning in one's life. Design Retrospective qualitative data analysis. Setting Senior center in an urban setting. Participants 16 older adults who were senior center members with the ability to travel to the site, no caregiver assistance at the center, and > 17/30 MoCA scoring. Exclusion criteria followed recommendations from the VR user manual. Interventions Meaningful daily activity problems were identified through the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM). Participants completed eight 30-minute immersive VR sessions. At the beginning of each session, occupational problems were reviewed and the participant selected apps with efforts to address all occupational problems. For example, if the participant identified “international travel," the researchers suggested travel apps. Main Outcome Measures Seven open-ended questions designed to solicit the participants' perspectives and to target the research questions, administered post-programming. Results Exploratory applied thematic analysis was utilized with a constant data comparison approach. Most participants described their VR learning experience positively and as meaningful. Leisure-based applications, opportunities to learn something new, or to contribute to personal wellness, were most preferred. Maximal engagement was attributed to VR experiences that aligned with the participants’ interests and values, with anticipated supportive needs to continue VR use. Conclusions Immersive VR offered participants a safe virtual environment for preferred leisure activities and participants reported that VR allowed them to participate in “exploration without danger.” These findings suggest that a VR protocol with targeted inclusion of meaningful leisure-based and learning-based applications may improve the client experience and possibly enhance neuroplasticity for the older adult when applying VR as an intervention for neurological conditions, informing future research protocols when including older adults as subjects. Author(s) Disclosures Nothing to disclose. To identify themes of the perspectives of the immersive virtual reality (VR) learning experience, the preferred occupational engagement methods of VR, and if VR provides meaning in one's life. Retrospective qualitative data analysis. Senior center in an urban setting. 16 older adults who were senior center members with the ability to travel to the site, no caregiver assistance at the center, and > 17/30 MoCA scoring. Exclusion criteria followed recommendations from the VR user manual. Meaningful daily activity problems were identified through the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM). Participants completed eight 30-minute immersive VR sessions. At the beginning of each session, occupational problems were reviewed and the participant selected apps with efforts to address all occupational problems. For example, if the participant identified “international travel," the researchers suggested travel apps. Seven open-ended questions designed to solicit the participants' perspectives and to target the research questions, administered post-programming. Exploratory applied thematic analysis was utilized with a constant data comparison approach. Most participants described their VR learning experience positively and as meaningful. Leisure-based applications, opportunities to learn something new, or to contribute to personal wellness, were most preferred. Maximal engagement was attributed to VR experiences that aligned with the participants’ interests and values, with anticipated supportive needs to continue VR use. Immersive VR offered participants a safe virtual environment for preferred leisure activities and participants reported that VR allowed them to participate in “exploration without danger.” These findings suggest that a VR protocol with targeted inclusion of meaningful leisure-based and learning-based applications may improve the client experience and possibly enhance neuroplasticity for the older adult when applying VR as an intervention for neurological conditions, informing future research protocols when including older adults as subjects.