Participant in dementia simulation training. Photo courtesy of the Boston Globe.

National Association of Social Workers member Mary Crowe, MSW, leads the Virtual Dementia Tour, which teaches staff at facilities serving the elderly what life is like for a person with the disorder.

According to this Boston Globe article, participants wear goggles with a yellow haze and black dots that obscure vision, headphones that transmit jarring noises and gloves with nubs and fingers taped together that demonstrate a loss of motor skills.

An observer is in the room but participants are not allowed to ask questions because people with dementia may ask a lot of questions but are often ignored.

Experts said such training is needed because America’s population is aging and more people will experience dementia. “Hospice has a passion for helping dementia patients because so many people we are now working with have dementia,” Crowe said.

To learn more about how social workers help the elderly visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Seniors & Aging Web pages by clicking here.