Video games are proving to be useful not just for entertainment value but also as a way for aged-care workers to get a virtual look at the physical reality of dementia.
Alzheimer's Australia Victoria CEO Maree McCabe says serious gaming for dementia care is the first of its kind in Australia and is helping carers improve their quality of care.
The technology allows the users to navigate through a virtual environment such as the home using all senses just as a person living with dementia would experience it.
Victorian Health and Ageing Minister David Davis says the technology enables aged-care workers and family members to understand what life is like for people living with dementia.
"It's one thing to understand it in a theoretical way but it is another to see it in a very clear, physical or visible way so that you can understand the confusion that's sometimes there and the barrage of images that is coming to a person."
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Alzheimer's Australia Victoria business development manager Dr Tanya Petrovich says the software is the first step to show carers how to change their care practice, teaching them problem solving and strategic thinking.
"In the future we hope to develop serious games with complex scenarios," she said at the launch in Melbourne on Wednesday.
Ms McCabe says the virtual training shows aged care workers and family members how to create a dementia-friendly environment.
"We need to know how to make our environments responsive to those changes and supportive so that people throughout their stages of dementia are supported in the community and can go about and be socially included and engaged in community life."
Ms McCabe says increased awareness can lead to personalised care and improved quality of life for people living with dementia.
