As most of those within the senior care profession will tell you, one of the things that separates a good caregiver from a great caregiver is that the very best caregivers have greater empathy than the average person. Empathy is the ability to experience emotions alongside other people. It makes caregivers more sensitive to the needs and desires of the people that they care for, and when it’s combined with a professional level of knowledge in the realm of senior care, it often leads to a higher quality of care being administered. There has been a lot of talk about a lack of good caregivers in the business lately, and one of the reasons might be that those who apply for caregiving jobs are not being observed long enough by management to know whether they possess this quality or not.
For those in the medical field, a sense of empathy is just as important. Because medicine can be very clinical, doctors do not always express their empathy in the same way that those in more hands on positions do, such as nurses and caregivers, but empathy is an important part of the success of any doctor, especially those within the field of geriatrics.
Technology is helping doctors and others to take greater steps toward understanding those that they work with through virtual reality. For example, a new program allows people to experience what life is like through the eyes of “Alfred,” a virtual 74 year old man. They get to see his life in a few different stories, each consisting of six to seven minutes of VR footage. Now that VR is more accessible and more cost effective than ever before, this is something that more and more people can gain access to.
Doctors might already have empathy, but that doesn’t mean that they know what it’s like to be elderly. The majority of med school students are in their early to mid-20s. These are young, bright, and hard working people. They are caring, and they want to do good. But that doesn’t mean that they know what it’s like to struggle to care for themselves, or to balance while they walk down their hallways. Virtual reality is certainly not perfect, but it can help us to understand to a much better degree what struggles are faced, and then be more cognizant about helping those that need assistance.
This kind of technology is exciting, if only because it allows people to experience life in a different way. Some of the best books ever written are so powerful because they allow you to experience life differently. The same goes for music, movies, and other media. Virtual reality is continuing this tradition, and it goes far beyond entertainment. VR is allowing doctors and others involved in the senior care business experience what it’s like to be elderly, have certain disorders, and more. This is an exciting development, and hopefully it will lead to a higher quality of care in the senior care field.
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