La réminiscence, et plus précisément les fonctions prosociales, favoriserait la santé mentale des personnes âgées. Parmi les supports pouvant stimuler ce processus, les vidéos personnalisées en 360° apparaissent comme une approche prometteuse.

L’objectif principal de cette étude était d’évaluer l’activation de la réminiscence lors de sessions personnalisées de réalité virtuelle immersive chez des personnes âgées institutionnalisées. L’objectif secondaire était de déterminer l’influence des troubles cognitifs et des thèmes visionnés sur cette activation.

L’intervention consistait en 8 sessions de réalité virtuelle (comprenant le visionnage d’une vidéo 360° personnalisée suivi d’un temps d’échange). Les vidéos 360° (une différente à chaque session) ont été sélectionnées selon le parcours de vie de chaque personne âgée. Seules les vidéos susceptibles de rappeler des souvenirs associés à émotions positives ont été retenues avec l’aide du personnel soignant. Nous avons mené une analyse thématique réflexive à partir des temps d’échanges avec les participants. Nous avons inclus 68 personnes âgées de 31 EHPADs.

Les résultats montrent que sur les 493 sessions réalisées, le processus de réminiscence semble activé dans au moins 77,5 % d’entre elles. Il n’y a pas de distinction significative entre les personnes avec et sans troubles cognitifs (75,1 et 80,3 % respectivement). Bien que le thème « promenades » ait été le plus visionné, l’ensemble des thèmes a permis l’activation de la réminiscence.

Ces résultats suggèrent que les vidéos 360° personnalisées constituent un support pertinent et engageant pour stimuler la réminiscence chez les personnes âgées institutionnalisées, même si de futures études sont nécessaires pour confirmer et préciser ces résultats préliminaires.

Reminiscence, which consists in the voluntary or involuntary recall of autobiographical memories through a stimulus (sound, image, smell), is a potential non-medicinal approach to promoting mental health of older adults. Its activation, and more specifically that of prosocial functions (talking about one's memories for conversation or transmission) would have a beneficial effect on psychological health. The 360° immersive videos are a promising approach to stimulating this process. Indeed, the characteristics (immersion, realism) of these videos would encourage memory recall. The type of content is also a factor to be taken into account, with personalized content appearing to be the preferred choice. The heterogeneity between studies using personalized 360° videos makes it impossible to determine which content is most conducive to activating reminiscence.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the activation of reminiscence following the viewing of personalized 360° videos in institutionalized older adults. The secondary aim was to determine the influence of cognitive impairments on reminiscence exchange and activation, and the influence of themes viewed on reminiscence activation.

Older adults underwent 8 virtual reality sessions (including the viewing of a video followed by a time of exchange). The 360° videos (1 different for each session) were selected according to the life history of each older adult. Only videos designed to evoke positive memories were selected. Participants viewed the videos in an immersive virtual reality headset, controlled by a smartphone. Several video themes, taken from a library, were proposed (walks, history/culture, animals, professional activity, sport). These anonymous interviews were transcribed and then analyzed with a reflexive thematic analysis. We used a mixed coding approach (inductive and deductive) on the interviews. We included 68 older adults from 31 residential aged care facilities.

The results show that of the 493 sessions carried out, in at least 77.5% of them, the reminiscence process appears to be activated. We identified three types of memories: positive, negative and uncategorized (memories for which we did not identify the associated type of emotion). Recalled memories were mostly uncategorized (81.2% of sessions). There was no significant difference in the average duration of exchanges between participants with and without cognitive impairments (with cognitive impairments: M=3,2±2,0, without: M=4,4±3,2, p=0,17). There was a high percentage of sessions in which we found reminiscence activation in older adults with and without cognitive impairments (75,1% and 80,3% respectively). For each of the themes viewed, the percentage of sessions in which memories were shared was high (between 50,0 and 88,9%). The 360° videos enabled the activation of reminiscence, which was noted thanks to the sharing of memories during the sessions. The high percentage of sessions in which reminiscence was observed could be explained by the personalization strategy used. Cognitive impairments do not seem to have hindered exchanges. Reminiscence was present in both older adults with and without cognitive impairment. Although the theme “walks” was the most viewed, all themes led to the activation of reminiscence (M=72,0%).

These results suggest that personalized 360° videos are a relevant and engaging medium for stimulating reminiscence in institutionalized older adults with and without cognitive impairments.