Ingrid Menezes gestures toward herself as she takes in the sight of an African wilderness.

鈥淐ome on zebra, come,鈥� she says as she starts to pet the air above her lap.

鈥淲hat else do you see Ingrid?鈥� asks Dorothy Laugo, a recreation assistant running the virtual reality session on a tablet as the duo sits side-by-side in a Toronto long-term care home.

The 71-year-old Menezes looks up, down and around, then points to the floor to the left of her wheelchair.

鈥淚s this a rhinoceros?鈥� she asks.

鈥漎es,鈥� Laugo says, smiling. But she knows what Menezes is looking forward to the most.

鈥淚 think this is your favourite 鈥� what do you see?鈥� she asks.

鈥淭he giraffe,鈥� Menezes says, looking up. 鈥淗e鈥檚 beautiful.鈥�

After Laugo gently lifts the VR goggles from her head, Menezes says 鈥淥h!鈥� as her African safari disappears and she sees the other people in the common room.

鈥淲elcome to the real world,鈥� Laugo says.

Menezes moved to Kennedy Lodge in east Toronto after brain surgery about five years ago. She鈥檚 one of a growing number of long-term care residents in Canada who are getting virtual reality as part of their recreation programs.

Proponents say the technology not only provides entertainment but can help reduce isolation by encouraging residents to share their virtual experiences with recreation staff, fellow residents and family members. The 15 to 20 minute sessions can also reach and comfort many long-term care residents with dementia, they say.

In an emailed statement, the Canadian Association for Long Term Care said it 鈥渟upports technology like VR as an additional tool staff can use to enhance the quality of life and care for long-term care (LTC) residents.鈥�

鈥淟ooking ahead to 2025, CALTC is prioritizing the rapid development of technology and its effective integration into LTC settings,鈥� said Jodi Hall, the CEO of the association.

Sandra Morgan, Kennedy Lodge鈥檚 program manager, said VR experiences must be tailored to each resident鈥檚 likes and needs 鈥� especially for those with dementia.

鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to know your resident. You can鈥檛 just put a (VR) headset on your resident and choose (what they experience),鈥� she said.

Morgan and her recreation staff keep lists of each resident鈥檚 interests, as well as their likes and dislikes, to determine the best VR programs for each person. If someone doesn鈥檛 respond well to animals, Morgan said, they wouldn鈥檛 use the African experience Menezes likes so much.

Morgan also encourages visiting family members 鈥� especially grandchildren 鈥� to join residents in VR experiences as a way to connect.

鈥淚 always say, 鈥極K you can use the VR. We鈥檙e not going to be on our phone,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to interact with Grandma during this visit. And they鈥檙e excited because it鈥檚 their thing, it鈥檚 VR.鈥�

Laugo said higher-functioning residents benefit from using VR as a group, 鈥漛ecause it allows them to share experiences and interact with each other in a more social environment.鈥�

But for residents with dementia who aren鈥檛 able to interact in the same way, she does one-on-one sessions. If residents are agitated, she chooses VR videos that provide 鈥渃alm and serene environments (that) help reduce anxiety and also provides sensory stimulation.鈥�

Babies, nature and beaches are popular VR experiences that can have a calming effect, Laugo said.

Baycrest Centre, a teaching and research hospital and long-term care provider in Toronto, often uses VR to help seniors tap into what they did when they were younger.

鈥淲e have a resident who was a former scuba diver and so the program was taking him under the sea,鈥� said Cyrelle Muskat, Baycrest鈥檚 director of quality systems, wellness and culture.

鈥淗is expression was one of joy. He was talking about how incredible that experience was talking to his family about it,鈥� she said.

Many seniors also enjoy VR tours of cities, Muskat said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 taking them to places that they otherwise would not be able to go to or experiences that they wouldn鈥檛 be able to experience at this stage of their life,鈥� she said.

Baycrest is actively researching whether or not VR can help reduce 鈥渞esponsive behaviours鈥� related to dementia, such as kicking, hitting, punching, spitting, grabbing or wandering.

The principal investigator for that study, Mara Swartz, said they held individual VR sessions with 10 residents who have dementia, as well as two others in the pre-pilot research phase.

The results were 鈥減ositive,鈥� she said, noting that she can鈥檛 give more specifics until the study is submitted to a journal for publication next year.

But the key, she said, was matching the VR experience to the person.

鈥淚 always went back to, as much as possible, what they were like, what they enjoyed and engaged in prior to the disease taking over.鈥�

One resident with dementia used to be a pilot. When he was placed in the virtual cockpit of a Cessna plane, he reached for the controls.

鈥淭hey were getting the plane ready to fly,鈥� Swartz said.

When his VR headset came off, 鈥渢here were smiles鈥� and he stayed seated and engaged afterward, she said.

The VR programs for both Kennedy Lodge and Baycrest were bought from Rendever, a Boston-based virtual reality company specializing in health care and senior living.

The company has more than 150 clients in Canada, including long-term care homes in Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia 鈥� and the number continues to grow, said David Stoller, Rendever鈥檚 vice-president of partner success.

Long-term care homes subscribe to the VR service monthly, and the cost varies depending on the amount of programming and the number of headsets provided, he said.

One of the most exciting applications is that the technology can create virtual trips to specific neighbourhoods and regions with the help of Google maps, and photos and videos uploaded by loved ones, Stoller said.

鈥漌e can actually take them back to their childhood home. We can take them back to a restaurant where they used to have family celebrations. We can take them back to vacation destinations. We can take them to a church, a synagogue, a mosque where they got married,鈥� he said.

鈥淲e鈥檙e able to bring people back to those positive emotions that they associated with those experiences,鈥� Stoller said.