Almost everyone knows someone close to them who suffers from dementia. This condition brings with it serious consequences, for example no longer being able to recognise loved ones, simple tasks becoming impossible and eventually the loss of independent living. This often leads to feelings of sadness, as well as lack of understanding and frustration.

At the Black Cross festival, visitors had the chance to experience for themselves what it is like to have dementia via the VR Dementia experience. This simulation was designed by researchers from Avans University of Applied Sciences. By giving festival-goers a glimpse of life with dementia, the researchers aim to achieve greater knowledge and empathy for this condition.

Cindy de Bot, associate lecturer of Prevention within Nursing Care at Avans University of Applied Sciences, was enthusiastic about the test at Zwarte Cross: “Almost 300 festival visitors tried our VR experience for dementia. Our aim is to create more understanding and awareness around this condition so that people with dementia can continue to participate fully in society. We had valuable discussions and there was a lot of interest and engagement, which we are pleased about. We hope that these tests have had a positive impact on test-takers, further spreading the understanding of dementia.”