Effects of 360-Degree Immersive Virtual Reality Dementia Education on Nursing Students’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Empathy Toward People With Dementia

This randomized controlled trial aimed to evaluate the effects of a dementia education using 360-degree immersive virtual reality (VR) videos on the knowledge, attitudes, and empathy toward people with dementia among nursing students. Fifty eligible nursing students were randomly assigned to VR and control groups. The VR group (n=25) engaged in 3 sessions of 360-degree immersive dementia VR videos featuring clinical scenarios with debriefings and instructor-led group discussions in addition to the conventional lecture-based dementia care course, whereas the control group (n=25) received 3 sessions of instructor-led group discussions on dementia case scenarios without exposure to VR in addition to the conventional course. Data were collected at baseline, week 8, and week 18. The VR group showed greater dementia knowledge than the control group at T1 ( P =.015) and T2 ( P =.001), as measured by the Dementia Knowledge Assessment Scale. Empathy, measured by the Jefferson Scale of Empathy, showed significant improvement at T 2 ( P <.001) between groups. However, the Approaches to Dementia Questionnaire results showed no significant improvement in attitudes over time between groups. These findings suggest that a dementia education using 360-degree immersive VR videos filmed from the perspectives of people with dementia is an effective teaching strategy for improving nursing students' dementia knowledge and empathy. This study findings may provide valuable insights for the development of dementia care curricula using VR technology in nursing education.