Virtual Dementia Tour makes stop in Webster County

by Matt Hughes

J-E News Editor

Anyone who has ever had a family member with dementia or Alzheimer’s knows the difficulties that come along with caring for them. It’s hard to escape the frustration of feeling like they are not listening to you, or the embarrassment that comes from loud and often vulgar outburst.

Caring for someone with these and other problems requires a lot of patience and a little understanding. That is why researchers developed the Virtual Dementia Tour (VDT), which was in Webster County on Wednesday, October 23, 2013.

Ruby Jones

“It came as part of the program at Second Wind Dreams,” said Ami Hosier, the Family Life Extension Agent at the University of Kentucky. “Second Wind Dreams does Make-A-Wish for seniors.”

UK Elder Care picked the program up and has been doing it as part of their own program for UK Work-Life, which is meant to assist University employees to balance work and home life.

“They started doing this because they help provide elder care for UK faculty and staff members,” said Hosier.

The tour is designed to give the user a look inside the life of an elderly person suffering from Alzheimer’s or dementia, and requires donning several items that limit the wearer’s abilities.

The first are special shoe inserts that simulate foot pain associated with poor circulation, neuropathy and arthritis. The resemble a carpet runner with the points on the bottom turned up.

Next come a pair of thick garden gloves, with the thumb and index finger of the wearer’s dominate hand taped together, as well as the last three fingers on the other hand. This simulates arthritis and the loss of fine motor skills and tactile senses commonly associated with aging.

Third are a pair of goggles with thick, yellow lenses and a dot in the center. They also block out the wearer’s peripheral vision. These simulate the effects of macular degeneration, which is the leading cause of vision loss in people over 65.

Lea Gelarden

Finally comes what might be the most difficult, a pair of studio headphones and a recording of what can best be described as listening to someone constantly turn the dial on a radio-bursts of static followed by short bursts from random voices, none of which make any real sense. This is to help the user understand that dementia patients have an increased rate of hearing loss compared to others their own age.

Once you are geared up, you are verbally given a list of five objectives to complete.

Some subjects reported not being able to hear the instructions at all, while others said they couldn’t focus on what was being said because of the noise from the headphones.

When each person’s time was up, they met with Hosier to discuss their feelings. The experience was eye opening, which is why Webster County Extension Agent Katie Alexander arranged to have the program brought to Webster County.

“I went through it at training for Extension Agents at UK,” said Alexander. “I thought it would be good to have for the people in Webster County, to help the public know what it’s like.”

The event was held during the day because Hosier was not available at night, but Alexander said now that they’ve hosted the event, she wants to get it back during the evening so people who work during the day can attend.

“The ones working now will be the ones taking care of their parents and grandparents in a few years,” she said. “They need to see why it’s important to have patience with them.”