De-escalation with Dementia
SIMULATION TYPE
Open Scenario
SIMULATION DURATION
10 minutes
PATIENT AGE GROUP
Adult
TARGET AUDIENCE
RN, Physician, Medical Students
Mrs. Evelyn Carter, 82-year-old female, has moderate dementia. She was admitted for a right hip fracture repair. On day one of post-op care she remained mildly confused but cooperative but as evening approached, she became increasingly confused and agitated, exhibiting signs of Sundown Syndrome. She removed her IV and started yelling at the staff, with hallucinations making her condition worse.
This VR simulation training is designed to train healthcare providers in crisis intervention for patients with dementia-related agitation. Learners practice non-pharmacologic de-escalation techniques to safely manage behavioral crises while maintaining patient dignity and ensuring continued post-operative care. Â
- Analyzing the impact of hospitalization on dementia symptoms, including the development of Sundowning Syndrome and its effects on patient behavior
- Implementing non-pharmacologic crisis management and therapeutic communication strategies to de-escalate agitation and aggression in a post-op dementia patient safely
- Utilizing familiarization, routine, and environmental modifications to reduce confusion and prevent behavioral escalation
- Evaluating the effectiveness of de-escalation interventions and developing a care plan to minimize future Sundowning episodes while ensuring patient safety
- Crisis Prevention Institute. (2023). De-escalation tips and techniques for verbal intervention.
- American Psychological Association. (2020). Strategies for verbal de-escalation.
Customize Your Program
Get rid of the editor. Adopt in-VR customization.
MedVR Education is bringing to you in-VR customization that will enable you to customize your procedural simulations by making selections from a range of feature choices.Â
- Select patient from a diverse background
- Choose preferred virtual environment
- Configure patient vitals
- Define simulation duration
- Create patient history and train with AI-Humans
- Customize session-end debriefing
- …..many more to come
Multi-playerSessions
Physics-based Interactions
Core Skills Training
Applying De-escalation Techniques
As a part of this de-escalation scenario of a dementia patient, the learner is facing an elderly patient afflicted with dementia and recovering from a hip fracture. While the patient is mildly confused on day one, conditions start worsening as evening approaches, symptoms consistent with Sundown Syndrome. The healthcare practitioner must employ non-pharmacologic de-escalation techniques to calm the patient, address their fears and confusion, validate their emotions, work towards establishing trust and cooperation and take assist them in continuing their post-op recovery process without further escalation. All necessary affordances are provided to complete the procedure with efficiency.
Debriefing
End-of-task debriefing to assess one’s performance, evaluate actions, and get the most out of the training. Examples of topics being touched upon in the debriefing include the following:
- Thorough patient assessment
- Implementation of de-escalation strategies
- Appropriate intervention delivery
- Structured approach to address situation
- Timely crisis management
