Dementia Experience intends to give healthy people a lifelike insight into how people with dementia experience their life. Experiencing symptoms of dementia yourself can stimulate sympathy. Armed with that, they can respond better to needs, so that care improves.
More sympathy at carer increases empathy and decreases stress, as a result of which the care burden is experienced as less, which leads to less overburden. More sympathy also gives more support from the environment (involvement social network), which makes the job of carer more easy. By strengthening carer they can maintain their care jobs at home longer and people with dementia can live longer at home.
Dementia Experience consist of a simulator: a physical, interactive room where, making use of among other things Serious Gaming and Virtual Reality techniques, the social world of someone with dementia is imitated by “telling” a realistic story and let people themselves experience what are the disabilities and obstacles someone with dementia is daily confronted with. The aim is that the simulator eventually appeals to the emotions, leading to the for dementia characteristic phenomenon “alienation”.
An interview and follow-up, where visitors are prepared for the simulation in advance, and can respond to the experience afterwards. In the follow-up the translation to the daily practice is made at the same time. The follow-up has a coaching character.