Using virtual reality to provide inter-professional student education in Alzheimer’s disease.

Abstract

An Alzheimer’s patient care management training program will be designed and piloted using an established virtual world platform, Second Life, for a virtual in-classroom and distance learning application with students in the health professions. We will partner with a private technology firm, Virtual Ability, Inc. to adapt and build one of SUNY’s Second Life islands an existing virtual training module on palliative care to meet the learning objectives for Alzheimer’s care management. The pilot will include a team of inter professionals to develop the content for Alzheimer’s care management from a multi-disciplinary perspective (medicine, nursing, and physicians assistance, patients with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers). Once the content is developed, it will be established in a virtual platform. Students from the three medical disciplines will completed the Alzheimer’s modules. A Pre and Post test evaluations will be conducted.