An exploration of exergaming for people living with dementia in long-term care settings: a scoping review

The prevalence of dementia continues to increase globally and due to the nature of the condition more people are living in long-term care (LTC) settings to support their needs. As there is no current cure for dementia, a key focus within LTC is the provision of meaningful and therapeutic non-pharmacological interventions. Exergaming is a non-pharmacological intervention which combines exercise and digital gaming, and this review aims to explore exergaming and its impact on people with dementia living in LTC settings. Searches were completed accessing CINAHL, PsychINFO, MEDLINE, PubMed, and OVID. A thorough search strategy was applied to ensure the yielded results were applicable. Eighteen studies were selected with various methodological approaches and common themes were identified through the process of thematic analysis. Through the analysis and synthesis of the literature it was found that exergaming has positive impacts on the wellbeing, physical health, cognition, and social inclusion of people living with dementia in LTC settings. The importance of ensuring that interventions are person-centered resonated throughout the review, and a key aspect of exergaming is its adaptability which enables this. Exergaming is an innovative, non-pharmacological intervention for people living with dementia in LTC settings, and has several, proven multidimensional benefits. The feasibility, useability, and the practicalities of implementation were critically explored and it can be recommended that further research is required to investigate these concepts. As the health and social care landscape becomes increasingly digitalized exergaming may become an important component in the treatment and care of people living with dementia.