A Walk Through Dementia: An Occupational Therapy Student's Perspective (poster 12)

Abstract

BACKGROUND|The total number of people with dementia worldwide is currently estimated at 47.5 millions and this number is expected to increase to 135.5 million by 2050 (World Health Organization (WHO), 2016). Occupationaltherapystudents engage in education on dementia in multiple courses throughout the occupational therapy curriculum including OTD 423 Occupational Therapy with Older Adults in the fourth semester (fall semester) of the second year of the OTD program. The investigators facilitated a virtual reality (VR) dementia simulation experience in order to determine if the learning activity provides value and should be incorporated in to the future offering of OTD 423.