Comparing the efficacy of content and media for online dementia education: A five-arm randomized controlled trial

Various educational programs have been designed to reduce dementia-related stigma. However, the most effective content remains unclear owing to the integration of multiple contents. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of different content. Participants from a crowdsourcing website were randomly assigned to one of five online interventions: (1) a lecture video on dementia and the lives of people living with dementia (15.2 min); (2) a short drama about a person living with dementia and their families (28.4 min); (3) drama combined with virtual reality (VR), allowing participants to experience part of the drama from a person living with dementia perspective (37.5 min), (4) mini-games simulating interactions with people living with dementia (12.6 min); and (5) documentary videos about people living with dementia (15.0 min). Attitudes and helping intentions toward people living with dementia were assessed before and after the interventions. All groups demonstrated significant within-group improvements, but no significant differences in score changes were observed between groups. Considering their short duration and ease of development and delivery, and comparable effects with other methods, lecture videos are recommended as an efficient method for reducing dementia stigma via online education.