Assessing the Feasibility of Using Virtual Reality Experiences in Older Adults

Background and Significance

Seriously ill older adults frequently harbor unfulfilled end-of-life aspirations, commonly referred to as "bucket list" experiences. Advanced illness, functional decline, and the constraints of institutional living typically render travel and other real world experiences largely unattainable for this population. Virtual reality (VR) technology, now widely commercially available, may offer an accessible means of delivering immersive surrogate experiences at the bedside. However, the feasibility of VR engagement among seriously ill nursing home residents - including their capacity to tolerate head-mounted display use, sustain attention during immersion, and derive meaningful benefit - has not been adequately established. The present study seeks to address this gap.

Specific Aims:

1. To determine the feasibility of administering immersive VR experiences to seriously ill older adult nursing home residents using a commercially available head-mounted display.
2. To compare participant ability to tolerate two distinct VR delivery modalities: computer-generated virtual reality (CG-VR) and film-based virtual reality (FB-VR).
3. To explore, through qualitative inquiry, participant perceptions of VR as a vehicle for fulfilling personally meaningful experiences (virtual bucket-listing).

Study Design