Corn in your shoes, static in your ears: The new virtual dementia tour

The Alzheimer Society of P.E.I. has a new program to give young Islanders an idea of what it's like to have dementia.

The organization is offering virtual dementia tours to Island schools.

They're more likely to keep visiting a loved one with dementia.- Kate Byrne, Alzheimer Society of P.E.I. society education co-ordinator

Participants will wear gloves and special goggles. They'll also have corn kernels in their shoes and static in their ears.

Then they'll be asked to perform simple tasks like writing a grocery list or folding laundry.

The idea is to demonstrate the struggles of living with the disease.

Improving quality of life

"It's really good for the person with dementia to have people in their life who understand their symptoms and their difficulties," said society education co-ordinator Kate Byrne.

"When children know more about it and they understand, they're less afraid of the disease, so they're more likely to keep visiting a loved one with dementia, rather than to shy away from that, which improves quality of life for people with dementia when they still have their family visiting and engaging with them."

Byrne said the program would work best for students in Grades 3 to 5, because it fits well with that curriculum.

The project was piloted at Grace Christian School.

The society is hoping to branch out into other schools and would someday like it implemented province-wide.

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