Rendever Awarded $2M NIH Grant to Research Impact of Virtual Reality on Aging Population
– Rendever, a Boston-based virtual reality (VR)platform built to help seniors overcome social isolation through shared experiences, announces that it has been awarded a $2M Phase II Grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
– This grant will fund a registered multi-site clinical trial, in conjunction with the University of California Santa Barbara, to further Rendever’s continued research on the effects of VR on seniors. The focus of the research is to evaluate the impact of VR-based virtual family engagement for seniors and the differences in effect across various levels of cognitive impairment (MCI, mild to moderate AD/ADRD).
The Phase II Grant builds on Rendever’s previously awarded Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I Grant to measure the impact of Rendever’s engagement platform. The initial pilot data confirmed the positive impact that virtual family engagement has on both residents and their family members living at a distance. Residents experienced decreased negative emotions and feelings of isolation, increased positive emotions and engagement with their family members, and overall improved quality of life. Family members reported similar mental health benefits along with significant decreases in caregiver guilt after using Rendever’s VR platform with their loved ones.
See the full story here: https://hitconsultant.net/2021/08/18/rendever-virtual-reality-on-aging-population-research/#.YR0uRS1h2t8
