Digital Learning Technology for Dementia Care Training in Long-term Care Professionals

Dementia, including cognitive decline and behavioral and psychiatric symptoms of dementia (BPSD), presents a significant challenge to long-term care systems and family caregivers. While various digital educational resources are available, long-term care professionals often face challenges in practical care skills, communication, and emotional coping when managing individuals with moderate to severe dementia. To address these needs, a dementia education program integrating digital learning technologies was proposed to offer a meaningful, collaborative learning experience. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of this immersive learning dementia education program on long-term care professionals' dementia care knowledge, attitudes, and interprofessional collaboration competence (as the primary outcome variables). This study utilized a quasi-experimental, waitlist control group pre- and post-test design. This study utilized a quasi-experimental, waitlist control group pre- and post-test design. Long-term care professionals were recruited from 12 community-based long-term care institutions in Taiwan. Participants were assigned to either the intervention group or the waitlist control group based on the order of enrollment. The intervention group participated in an 8-hour, 4-unit immersive training program held during non-working hours. The curriculum included: an advanced dementia care lecture and case discussions; Virtual Reality (VR) dementia symptom simulation (using HTC VIVE Flow headsets) followed by reflective debrief; Augmented Reality (AR) interactive skill training (using the MAKAR Viewer mobile app); and experience sharing on ethical and legal issues in dementia care. The waitlist control group maintained their routine continuing education during the study period and received the identical 8-hour training program after the follow-up assessments were completed. All participants completed standardized questionnaires at three time points: at ba