Feasibility of a Non-immersive Virtual Reality Training on Functional Living Skills Applied to Person with Major Neurocognitive Disorder

Abstract

The treatment of Major and Mild NeuroCognitive Disorder (M-NCD, m-NCD) include pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies, including cognitive training, recreational therapies, exercise, and interventions using technological tools. Proper cognitive training could be effective in preventing the evolution towards more severe cognitive impairment forms. A rehabilitative approach based on the use of Virtual Reality (VR) could be an effective and incentive tool to help prevent and early diagnose. In this paper, we propose a suite of serious games that stimulates the rehabilitative tasks in order to verify both the feasibility of a non-immersive virtual training on daily living skills for patients with M-NCD and the generalisation of the improved skills in the natural environment. Results show that virtual training could be a feasible approach for improving the generalisation capabilities of people affected by M-NCD doing activities of daily living. Feasibility, portability, the possibility of customisation and attractivity make Virtual Training an interesting approach for complementing and enriching the existing rehabilitation strategies.