VR pilot teaches empathy
Fairfax County piloted a virtual-reality program that puts students in older-adult scenarios to teach empathy and social awareness, showing VR’s potential as an engagement hook for SEL in STEAM curricula. The program is an example of using immersive tech sparingly to supplement, not replace, hands-on practice. (fairfaxtimes.com)
ElderLink launched the pilot program "Exploring the Dimensions of Aging through Virtual Reality" in early 2024 as part of Fairfax County’s SHAPE the Future of Aging initiative in partnership with Inova and the Fairfax Area Agency on Aging (fairfaxcounty.gov). Each session is 75 minutes long, is facilitated by ElderLink staff, and is delivered virtually via Microsoft Teams using Embodied Labs’ web‑immersive platform rather than requiring VR headsets to increase accessibility (fairfaxcounty.gov). Embodied Labs’ training model used in the pilot follows a four‑step sequence—prepare, embody, reflect, apply—where participants “embody” an older adult perspective and then take part in a structured facilitated reflection immediately afterward (fpciw.org). ElderLink’s evaluation of the Frank Lab showed average participant confidence in recognizing social isolation rose from 5.5 (pre‑session) to 8.7 (post‑session), representing a 58.2% increase on that metric (fairfaxcounty.gov). Attendees are provisioned with a license after facilitated sessions for on‑demand access to additional Embodied Labs modules, and county materials list extra labs including Alzheimer’s disease, macular degeneration & hearing loss, transgender aging, customer service, home health assessments, and end‑of‑life conversations (fairfaxcounty.gov). Fairfax County promoted the initiative into a second year running from December 1, 2024 through November 30, 2025 and the county’s 2026 training schedule shows continued sessions available, while Embodied Labs’ catalog explicitly includes Alzheimer’s and End‑of‑Life labs that the pilot can draw on ( ). The program received national recognition when Inova ElderLink and Fairfax AAA accepted a USAging 2025 Aging Innovations & Achievement Award for the Exploring the Dimensions of Aging pilot, and county meeting summaries show ElderLink asked the Board to help broaden outreach and offer closed demonstrations to community groups ( ).
