Professionals in care have an important role in signaling loneliness, but unfortunately not all caregivers are alert and have the knowdlegde to recognize loneliness at an early stage. According to a poll conducted by Verpleegkundigen & Verzorgenden Nederland (V&VN) among 1021 nurses and caregivers, the increasing workload in care has given them less time to spot loneliness in older people and act appropriately.
Students from the Smart Solution Semester conducted research into how loneliness manifests itself in the older care recipient and what the strengthening and weakening factors of loneliness are. Based on these factors, a virtual reality (VR) application was developed that allows professionals in care to experience, recognize and act upon loneliness in the elderly.
The virtual production can be found via this link video.saxion.nl/eenzaamheidbijouderen and is shared by a Creative Commons license CC BY-SA-NC.