The Promise of AR/VR and Neuro Stimulation in Family Caregiving

New tech can offer relaxation, healing for caregivers and care recipients without leaving home

Lee Woodruff,

AARP

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Published September 30, 2024

an older adult in a wheelchair uses a virtual reality headset

AARP (Source: Getty Images(2))

When my father was failing with Alzheimer’s, some of our most tender moments were spent in the car. I’d sign him out of his assisted living facility, and we’d drive past farmland, saltbox homes and cranberry bogs outside Boston. Conversation was limited, but then I’d slip in a Frank Sinatra CD and watch his entire being change as the music entered his brain. A smile moved across his face, his shoulders relaxed, and with both feet tapping, he seemed transported to a 1950’s high school dance in Ridgewood, New Jersey.

Today’s caregivers can help their loved ones have a similarly immersive experience using virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) devices that are designed to elicit positive feelings and, in some cases, reduce stress. The tech doesn’t need to be complex and expensive. Something as simple as a free mindfulness app on a smartphone can offer benefits — for both caregivers and the people they are caring for.

The need for innovative ways to manage the challenges associated with family caregiving is growing.

According to the World Health Organization, the number of people aged 60 and older will double globally by 2050. That means more of us will not only depend on caregivers, but will be caregivers, and not everyone possesses adequate resources and skills, especially for those caring for loved ones who are living with stroke, dementia and other chronic diseases. Day-to-day tasks can feel overwhelming and the “caregiver burden” can manifest in exhaustion, grief, worry, anxiety, self-accusation and depression.

How the tech works

So, what exactly are AR and VR, and how can they help? It’s simple: AR overlays digital elements on reality (usually via a smartphone or AR wearable). VR, on the other hand, is total immersion in a simulated environment with a headset.

Companies like Meta, Google and Apple provide AR/VR products and headsets, like those originally used by the video gaming community, that allow users to visit a favorite place or enter environments that feel familiar. The imagery is realistic enough to make the user feel mentally present, helping them relax and lessen pain.

Shan Padda, 61, founder and CEO of Harvard Medtech, explains that VR can be a powerful tool because it is so distracting. The company’s Vx Therapy headset is prescribed by a clinician and, depending on the patient’s needs, is preloaded with “experiences” to achieve different benefits, with assistance from an in-house “navigator.”

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“The patient gets very focused on what they are watching, and their brain is in a hyperfocused state, flooded with audio/visual stimuli to the extent that it deprioritizes the secondary signals of pain, hunger, sorrow, even the need to go to the bathroom,” he explains.

In one test, a patient was reporting an average pain level of eight. In separate tests — one with just a headset and the other with only an opioid — the reported pain dropped from eight to four in both cases, showing the same level of pain reduction without medication.

Padda is excited about the possibilities of VR for people experiencing trauma and pain, depression, poor sleep, PTSD or feelings of isolation and depression, often associated with caregivers. His work began with the military, where community isolation and loneliness is high, with the goal of helping veterans and active-duty military suffering from PTSD achieve changes in the brain through a nonnarcotic pain management method.

“What’s interesting is that with continued use, people continue to benefit from the legacy pain relief and report, even after 90 days, that the effects begin to last longer, stretching from 3-4 hours,” Padda notes. The product can be rented or purchased and has different cost models. The lowest cost program is about $2,800 for 90 days.

“This can also be fun,” he adds. “It’s meant to get people out of the house without leaving their chair. Go skiing in Switzerland; see elephants in Thailand; go back in time to an earlier era and evoke warm memories.”

He and other experts point to the potential benefits of AR and VR therapies for caregivers and their loved ones:

Helping dementia patients

Chris Brickler, 52, is the CEO of Mynd Immersive in Dallas, a provider of therapeutic experiences for older adults, available to senior care homes and rehab clinics in all 50 states.

“VR for the aging population is one of the most engaging technologies we’ve seen in senior care,” he says. “It’s showing promise in helping with activities of daily living, restoring range of motion, retraining stroke victims to make a cup of coffee, navigate a grocery store or even be in a ‘virtual kitchen’ and help the person identify safety hazards.”

Improving mood

A multiyear study with Stanford University tested Mynd in 16 senior communities across 10 states. Eight out of 10 seniors (and the clinical staff, who also participated) reported an improvement in mood. “We began to think about how VR could help with sundowning, where a person with dementia can get confused in the evening on a daily basis,” says Brickler. The cost of Mynd Immersive’s entry level packages for senior living and skilled nursing communities runs around $2,000.

Using memories to connect and calm

The Stanford study also found that VR can help forge bonds between caregivers and care recipients. More than 9 out of 10 of the caregivers surveyed said that using the Mynd programs helped improve their relationship with the person they were caring for. Brickler describes a potential scenario where a grandmother uses VR to view Google Earth and find the chapel where she was married. As she zooms in on a 360 view, she explains her wedding day to her caregiver granddaughter, evoking wonderful memories of the past and sparking conversation.

The executive notes that Mynd is expanding in 2025 and will be generally available for families and older adults who are aging in place.

Ipsit Vahia, M.D., the interim chief for the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry at McLean Hospital says he, too, has experienced the personal power of VR in what he calls “reminiscence therapy”: wearing a VR headset, he looked up his childhood home address in India and was immediately transported virtually to the neighborhood bookstore he used to visit. “It was a very powerful, nostalgic and emotional moment,” he recalls. “I realized that if it made me feel this intense emotion, there must be something here worth exploring in the context of patient care.”

Combatting pain

Bill Laffoday, Jr., 73, a businessman from Charlotte, North Carolina and a lifelong runner, has been focused on staying healthy. After three back surgeries, he was in a great deal of pain and began to slip into a “bad place” physically and mentally. When he first started using the Mynd headset, he rated his pain levels at 8-10 (10 is the worst pain) a day. He began watching the preprogrammed headset to treat pain for 12-15 minutes a day. “They were like cartoons, all you do is listen to them,” says Laffoday. He kept waiting for the counselor to tell him about next steps, but he noticed that his pain level went down each week. He eventually returned to activities like walking his dogs and even playing tennis.

“Within two months, my pain was at zero. When I started the program, I was on a round of painkillers, and I was still in pain. By the end I was on nothing,” he reports. “The technology helps you reframe how you think of pain, with a new reality. The same things that were causing the pain are probably still there, but my ability to feel them had been turned off by the process.”

Stimulating and re-training the brain

Kamran Fallahpour, Ph.D., 62, is a licensed clinical psychologist, neuroscientist and founder/director of the Brain Resource Center in Manhattan. He and his team developed Vital Neuro, a headset device equipped with three EEG sensors that sit on top of the head when you wear the headphones. The sensors monitor the person’s brain state and provide scientifically curated music and visual feedback to help rewire and “train the brain” for optimal functioning, self-regulation and improved brain function at an individualized pace.

Fallahpour sees brain training as “a lifestyle change” — the next wave of the physical exercise craze that began decades ago. Those who have issues relating to mood or cognition can get a neurological assessment at BRC’s clinic and learn which device is best suited for their condition; others who are dealing with general stress can order a device online (the headphones and unlimited annual subscription runs $795).

Everything can be impacted by stress, from our cognitive function, emotional regulation, physical and cardio health and our immune system says Fallahpour. “We can’t get away from stress, but when it becomes chronic and we don’t have ways to control it, we get into trouble.”

Karen Collins, 58, has experienced the benefits of VR firsthand. She lives in outside of Toronto in Oakville, Ontario, and cares for her parents, 83 and 84, who have various ailments, including a recent cancer diagnosis. “I’m the one on the ground with them,” says Collins, who also has a 21-year-old son who struggles with ADHD and learning issues. “There are so many things going on in my life and I need help to keep my head straight and stay balanced to care for everyone.”

She uses the Vital Neuro headset to help fall asleep, to relax and even to do a five-minute morning session to help her wake up and “face the day.” She refers to her routine as “exercising your brain,” and says it helps her cope. “I felt overwhelmed last January, and the doctor put me on an SSRI,” says Collins.

“It wasn’t a positive experience, and I decided I needed another choice. The drugs felt like a Band-Aid, but the neuro stimulation actually makes positive steps toward changing your brain,” she adds. “I can feel the change.”

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Lee Woodruff is a caregiver, speaker and author. She and her husband, Bob, cofounded the Bob Woodruff Foundation, which assists injured service members and their families. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.