Immersive Virtual Reality to Assess and Promote Upper Limb Activity in Older Adults With and Without Major Neurocognitive Disorder: A Qualitative Study

Purpose: This study explores how older adults with and without major neurocognitive disorder experienced the use of immersive virtual reality (VR) applications aiming to promote and assess upper limb activity. Method: A qualitative design within an interpretivist paradigm was employed. Thirty participants over 60 years of age were recruited from the Canadian population. After an upper limb immersive VR session, semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather insights from the participants. Thematic analysis using a six-phase framework was performed to identify and analyze key themes in the interview data. Results: Five main themes emerged from the analysis: prior experience and apprehensions toward immersive VR, comfort and usability of the device, design of the virtual background, interaction in immersive VR, and clinical applicability of immersive VR. Overall, older adults seemed motivated by the playful, challenging, and entertaining interactions offered by immersive VR. Conclusion: Immersive VR was described as beneficial for motricity and cognition. Participants found it to be an interesting tool for performing exercises and assessing performance more autonomously.