30 Mar “Virtual Dementia Tour recreates minds of those with Alzheimer’s or Dementia,” Atlanta News First
On Thursday, April 6 from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m., Park Springs Life Plan Community will be offering Virtual Dementia Tours to members of the Atlanta community who have a loved one experiencing dementia. Atlanta News First reporter Sawyer Bucci participated in a Virtual Dementia Tour and interviewed Park Springs Executive Director of Training and Organizational Development Tim Knight and Park Springs Health Services Primary Trainer Jacquie Hurt for a story that aired this week.
Park Springs offers interactive and immersive Virtual Dementia Tours through a partnership with Second Wind Dreams so that family members and caretakers can experience the physical and mental challenges their loved one with dementia faces on a daily basis in order to improve understanding, increase connection and ultimately provide better care.
”Having an understanding of what that person is going through helps people identify why they are experiencing the behaviors they might be having,” said Knight.
The Virtual Dementia Tour is part of the staff training at Park Springs and has been offered to families of Park Springs members with dementia in the past. This is the first time the Virtual Dementia Tours are being offered publicly.
“It is a hard place to be, to be an adult child of a parent who is living with dementia. You are losing your loved one piece by piece,” said Hurt, “Our training program is really about how to keep up with those losses, become empathetic and compassionate to your loved one and to yourself.”
To see the full interview, visit the Atlanta News First webpage here.