VR-based Mindfulness for Dementia Caregivers in the Home Environment (Mind-body Interventions)

Launched by THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG · Aug 2, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is studying a new way to help people who take care of family members with dementia feel less stressed and improve their well-being. It is testing a mindfulness program delivered through virtual reality (VR) technology, where caregivers use a mobile app to experience calming natural environments while practicing mindfulness exercises. The researchers want to see if this VR-based program works better than a similar program delivered through audio only, or usual care without these exercises. The goal is to help reduce feelings of depression, anxiety, and stress, and to improve the relationship between caregivers and the people they care for.

If you are 18 or older and spend at least four hours a day caring for a family member living at home with mild to moderate dementia, and you feel stressed, you might be eligible to join. You should be able to speak and read Cantonese and have a smartphone that can use the VR app. The study lasts eight weeks, during which participants will be randomly assigned to one of three groups: the VR mindfulness program, the audio mindfulness program, or usual care. Caregivers in the VR group will use the app to practice mindfulness in different natural settings, while others will listen to audio exercises or continue their usual routine. The study will check how participants are doing before, right after, and two months after the program. This trial is not yet recruiting, but it hopes to show that VR mindfulness can be a helpful and enjoyable way to support caregivers’ mental health and improve their caregiving experience.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Aged 18 years or older;
• • Primary informal caregivers who spend over four hours/day taking care of a community-dwelling person who has been clinically diagnosed with any type of mild-to-moderate dementia at least 6 months;
• • Self-reported psychological distress
• • Able to speak and read Cantonese.
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Have practiced mindfulness-based intervention for at least 3 months in the past;
• • Have hearing or visual impairment that cannot practice mindfulness via wearing VR
• • glasses embedded in a mobile phone app;
• • --Do not own a smart phone that can install the VR-based MBI app;
• • Caring for a person with dementia living in a residential care setting;
• • Caring a person with severe level of dementia;
• • Have been diagnosed with any mental disorder or on-site of psychotic disorders;
• • Receiving any other type of mental health intervention;
• • Participants with a history of motion sickness (due to the risk of VR triggering motion sickness)
• • Unable to understand Cantonese.
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• • -Unable to understand Cantonese.