A truck touring the UK can give you a taste of dementia
And the experience can be terrifying.
They say that to truly understand other people, you need to put yourself in their shoes. The Mobile Virtual Dementia Tour does just that in order to give people the chance to know what it feels like to suffer from the condition. Training2Care, the UK-based care training provider that organized the tour, made the inside of a truck look like a person's home. Before you go in, you have to wear a pair of dark glasses that blurs everything and simulates macular degeneration, as well as headphones that reproduces what dementia patients hear: chaotic sounds and noise.
You also have to wear gloves to dull your sense of touch and spiky shoe insoles that make you feel like you're stepping on needles, just like if you have peripheral neuropathy. Chloe Hamilton of The Independent said she was "disoriented and scared" inside that truck, and the whole experience felt terrifying. The Virtual Dementia tour has been around for quite a while both in the US and the UK.
Tour creator PK Beville told The Independent that she wants to encourage better care for patients who have Alzheimer's and other types of dementia by giving everyone else a glimpse of what they're experiencing. This particular version plans to tour around the UK, though. If you're willing to part with £20 to better understand someone in your life who may have the condition, you can check out Training2Care's website for the truck's schedule until March.
