Virtual reality can help older adults who are transitioning back to their homes remember how to navigate their homes and to learn where new home safety features such as railings are located. Rendever and RiverSpring Living, a LeadingAge CAST Patron based in Riverdale, NY, have partnered on this initiative.

Aging services providers are now tapping virtual reality (VR) for new uses—to prevent falls, lower hospital readmissions, and give therapy.  In “New senior living partnerships expand virtual reality use for home, daily life integration,” McKnight’s Senior Living introduces two new approaches.

Navigating at Home

Virtual reality can help older adults who are transitioning back to their homes remember how to navigate their homes and to learn where new home safety features such as railings are located. Rendever and RiverSpring Living, a LeadingAge CAST Patron based in Riverdale, NY, have partnered on this initiative.

Using video and photos taken in the home, Rendever creates a VR experience that immerses patients in their once-familiar homes. This preparation helps patients feel safe returning home, according to a Rendever statement.

Carrying out Therapy

In another new partnership, virtual reality will offer therapy that prepares older adults to interact in practical settings. MyndVR will introduce its VR therapy tools to the Peplinski Group’s 10 managed senior care communities in Michigan.

“With this technology, we can take our seniors out of the four walls of their therapy room and place them in a kitchen, a grocery store, a tool shed, and practice movements that affect their activities of daily living,” said Rick Ackerman of The Peplinski Group, in a MyndVR statement. MyndVRxsm was designed with Select Rehab, Orio Cognitive, and is powered by the new XR Elite immersive glasses by HTC Vive.

For more new ways that virtual reality can help older adults, please see the recent CAST article “New Tech to Improve Residents’ Health.”