Analysis of the Psychological Causes of Elderly Falls and the Potential of Virtual Reality Training for Prevention

Abstract

With the aging of the global population, the fall of the elderly has become a very worrying public health problem, which will lead to injuries, loss of independent living ability and psychological troubles. Although previous methods to prevent falls mainly focus on physical rehabilitation, new research found that psychological factors, such as fear of falling, anxiety and low self-confidence, were also super important in increasing the risk of falling. Our research is to find out the psychological reasons of falling and see if it is a useful new method to help with virtual reality (VR) training. We made a questionnaire survey on 50 elderly participants, asking them whether they had fallen before, how they felt, how uneasy they were about their surroundings, and their views on training with VR. It was found that 62% of people had fallen in the past year, and 70% of people said they would avoid doing some activities because they were afraid. Studies have found that psychological anxiety, especially when you are in a strange environment, will make you feel nervous and have no confidence, which will make your body more fragile. Interestingly, 60% of the respondents said that they are willing to try VR training, and they like those modules that practice balance and adapt to the environment best. These findings show that the immersive VR project can simulate real-world challenges in a safe and controlled environment, which may help us to enhance psychological resilience and physical stability. The research believes that adding psychological evaluation to the fall prevention strategy and designing VR intervention measures that can be adjusted according to emotions can provide us with a more comprehensive method to support a safer old-age life. These contents include incorporating psychological assessment into fall prevention strategies and designing virtual reality intervention measures that can adapt to emotional changes. This method can provide more comprehensive support and help us achieve a safer old age.