Virtual dementia tour comes to Collier County

NAPLES, Fla. – Confusion, frustration and forgetfulness; different forms of dementia can cause families to go through a vast variety of emotions.

Now, however, there is a tour in Collier County that can help families understand dementia and change their perception.

A room at Brookdale Naples is supposed to help bridge the gap between dementia patients and their loved ones.

The goal of a simple 10 minute tour is to replicate dementia behaviors.

“Your physical and sensory abilities will be altered,” Paul Wulf told WINK News reporter Morgan Frances.

People going through the tour are given shoe inserts that make it less comfortable to walk, two different pairs of gloves supposed to replicate the loss of sensation in their hands, glasses that impair their vision and headphones playing distracting noises.

“They certainly could have ringing in the ear, loss of hearing, and different things that impact their ability to concentrate,” Wulf said referring to dementia patients.

Despite instructions written on the walls, Wulf says most going through the virtual dementia tour forget at least one of the five tasks.

Wulf says dementia patients go through similar forgetfulness.

“It’s not because they’re not paying attention,” Wulf said, “It’s not because they don’t remember. It’s because they can’t remember.”

Wulf said, by experiencing 10 minutes of the tour, people get an insight into what dementia patients experience 24 hours a day, seven days a week for years of their lives.

The virtual dementia room tour at Brookdale Naples is open to the public. Click here for more information.