Midterm seminar at the PhD programme in Person, Health and Society for the PhD candidate Thomas Martinius Gabrielsen

Despite substantial effort from health care workers, nursing home residents with dementia (NHRDs) often experience isolation and low quality of life.

21 May

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Dementia is incurable, and treatment primarily focuses on slowing its progression and managing symptoms, usually with a combination of lifestyle factors and medication. Due to their frailty, many NHRDs lack opportunity to enjoy real nature experiences, and the benefits it implies. Immersive Virtual Nature (Virtual Reality-simulations that reproduce scenes of nature) can provide a supplement to treatment and a cost-effective solution to promote health and wellbeing for NHRDs.

The purpose of this project is to i) evaluate existing research on IVN-interventions for people with cognitive impairment and dementia, ii) investigate the acute affective and behavioral responses to an IVN-experience for NHRDs, and iii) assess the long-term effects of an IVN-intervention on various indicators of health and wellbeing for NHRDs. Given the scarce literature on the effects of IVN-interventions for NHRDs, the goal of this project is to contribute to filling this gap, and further development of IVN-interventions as a supplement to traditional treatment that could help reduce the economic burden of society and increase the quality of life for a vulnerable and often overlooked group.  

  • Main supervisor: Professor, Giovanna Calogiuri, USN
  • Co-supervisor(s): Professor, Lena Heyn, USN & Dr, Sigbjørn Litleskare, USN/INN
  • Ekstern evaluator: Dr. Andrea Di Blasio, University of Chieti-Pescara
  • Intern evaluator: Professor Hilde Thygesen, USN
  • Seminarleder professor Mirjam Lukasse