For older adults who can't travel to attend a traditional grief support group, a virtual version may be the next best thing.
Support groups have proved to be a helpful resource for those dealing with grief, but for older individuals, obstacles such as geographic location and physical immobility can sometimes make it difficult to attend support groups in person.

An effective option for older adults, according to new University of Arizona research, might be an online virtual reality support group that allows widows and widowers to interact in real time with mental health professionals and other bereaved people, via a computer–generated avatar.

The findings were published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior.

Lindsey Knowles, a graduate student in clinical psychology at the UA, set out with her colleagues to test the effectiveness and acceptability of two web–based support resources for older adults who have lost a spouse.

In a study of 30 widows and widowers older than 50, some were assigned to be part of a virtual reality support group twice a week, while others instead were instructed to do once–weekly readings from a grief education website. The same topics – including physical health, mental well–being, sleep, dating and parenting, among others — were addressed in both the interactive virtual group and the static online readings.

In follow–up assessments at the end of the eight–week study period and two months later, researchers found that participants in both groups showed improvements in stress, loneliness and sleep quality, but only participants in the virtual reality group showed self–reported improvement in symptoms of depression.

Researchers think the social support provided by the group, along with its interactive nature, helped with depression.

Researchers used the online platform Second Life to create a private virtual living room in a seaside cabin, where small groups of three to six people could gather. Participants, who all had lost a partner in the last one to three years, chose avatars – or animated figures – to represent them in the space. Then, from the comfort of their own homes, they communicated with one another by typing in a chat program.

In the first hourlong virtual support group meeting each week, Knowles' co–author, UA assistant professor of psychology Mary Frances–O'Connor, presented on a grief education topic by typing to those in the room. O'Connor previously had found virtual support groups to be an effective tool in her work with caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

Knowles moderated the second hourlong meeting each week, in which participants got to know one another and share their personal stories, often delving into feelings they might not be comfortable expressing in person.

In follow–up assessments, participants in the virtual reality group said they felt as if they were in a real room during the sessions, with real people who were going through similar experiences.

Those in the other study group – the ones assigned to do weekly readings from a grief education website – did not show improvement in depression. However, like the support group participants, they did report better sleep and less stress and loneliness after the intervention, which means the website could still be an effective tool for those who are grieving. It also requires fewer resources than a support group, which needs a dedicated moderator, Knowles said.