EDIE, Steady, Go

Staff and volunteers across all four OCAV villages now have a better understanding of what it is like to be a person living with dementia.

As part of OCAV’s commitment to creating dementia friendly retirement villages, they undertook a three-hour immersive experience with EDIE, a new virtual reality smartphone app.

EDIE provides the user with a 360-degree immersive experience that enables them to see first-hand the challenges faced by people with dementia.

The app, Educational Dementia Immersive Experience, pronounced Eddie, has been developed by Dementia Australia. It aims to build empathy in the user for people living with dementia.

Roz Johnson, Rushall Park residents’ coordinator, said that the experience was eye-opening.

“It made me realised how different life is if you have dementia. Just getting from the bedroom to the bathroom is full of challenges,” she added.

“The experience has left us all far more aware of how the set-up of a room can make life very hard for our residents living with dementia,” Ms Johnson said.

“Looking at the world through the eyes of a person with dementia has enabled each of us to consider how we approach our jobs,

Damian Pennington, Property Manager, said wearing EDIE highlighted the importance of the maintenance changes that have been made recently across all four villages.

“Our approach to colours, textures, contrasts between floors and benches, and cabinetry are on track to ensure all our villages are dementia friendly,” Damian Pennington said.

“It has given us food for thought, too, about the importance of positioning of lights, large-sized light switches, and colour. It made sense, and will certainly help direct our property plan.”

EDIE is the next generation in the use of serious games technology developed by Dementia Australia Vic. The organisation worked with the Deakin Software and Technology Innovation Laboratory (DSTIL) to develop this technology.