In this perspective, Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity Myriam Hernández reflects on the meaningful connections forged during her visit to the UCSF Memory and Aging Center, where her work on GAWI—a virtual reality film co-created with Indigenous communities—found unexpected resonance with brain health and dementia care.
Atlantic Fellows participate in a viewing of "Gawi," a virtual reality film created by Myriam Hernández. Photo courtesy of GBHI.
Last summer, I received an email, and my heart leapt as I sensed it might follow up on a conversation I had at the Global Atlantic Fellows’ Annual Convening in Oxford, UK. The email confirmed an invitation from the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) to share GAWI—a virtual reality (VR) film co-created with Indigenous communities about caring for Earth. Months of careful planning and exchanges later, I was on my way to San Francisco to meet the Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health and faculty at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center (MAC).
I’ll admit, I was nervous before arriving. My work revolves around climate justice, ethical storytelling, and VR for positive change. I wondered how my focus might resonate with fellows working mainly in brain health, dementia, and Alzheimer’s care. But I trusted the vision of the organizers and fellows who saw a bridge between these worlds. Looking back on my three days at the MAC, it felt like a bountiful harvest, with each of us bringing the fruits of our work to exchange, compare, and combine.
Harvesting Insights Together
Our collaboration began with a presentation on the co-creation journey behind GAWI. I shared the dedication of my Rarámuri colleagues, whose vision was to spread awareness of the climate crisis through Indigenous narratives and a fresh approach to emerging technologies like VR. The fellows and faculty engaged deeply with these ideas, reflecting on the relevance of Indigenous perspectives in finding alternative approaches to caring for ourselves and the planet. We considered how, in research, co-creation with communities often reveals richer, more innovative insights than our predefined objectives might allow.
These conversations unfolded further in discussions with GBHI faculty. Dr. Virginia Sturm and I explored how VR content like GAWI can ignite awe and positive emotions like connectedness, which support brain health. I also spoke with Dr. Ted Zanto about how Indigenous and non-Western approaches must often overcome significant institutional and societal barriers to be recognized as essential knowledge. Our collective reflections extended to how co-creation practices might contribute to epistemic justice, providing alternatives to the extractive practices that sometimes persist in art and knowledge production.
We considered how co-creation with communities often reveals richer, more innovative insights than our initial objectives might allow.
—Myriam Hernández, Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity
Myriam Hernández engages with the communities of UCSF and On Lok 30th Street Senior Center in San Francisco. Photos courtesy of GBHI and Gloria Aguirre.
A Harvest of Emotions
One of the most moving parts of my visit was sharing GAWI with older adults from the On Lok 30th Street Senior Center. Their eyes lit up with a sense of homecoming as they watched, and the session became a space for joy and vulnerability. A woman shared how she felt like a child again, running barefoot in the hills of Mexico. Another elder expressed pride in seeing her traditions mirrored in GAWI, sparking memories of when life felt simple and beautiful. I can still hear the buzzing conversations remembering and celebrating traditions from Peru, El Salvador, Guatemala – just like it happened with the fellows from Africa or Southern Asia.
At the On Lok center community event I reaffirmed how transformative art can be to build complicity and ignite emotional connectedness. It also came with a realization of how VR technology is not a “youth thing” or a futuristic tool. It proved to be a relevant and pertinent medium for the group of elders who, moved by curiosity, signed up for this session. This however, would have not been such a caring environment without the support from Laura María Calderón Cuevas, Berenice Fuentes-Juárez, and Gloria Aguirre from the Latino Cohort team who gracefully made the VR experience for these first-time users feel safe and easy – while Winnie Tsou and I were doing all the tech ride.
The culmination of this blend of thinking and feeling was my time spent with the fellows. They generously shared their hopes and efforts for advancing brain health in their communities, revealing aspirations that resonate deeply with my own commitment to climate justice and ethical storytelling. With some fellows we envisioned new projects together, but the Raramuri would say: Let it come in your dreams too. So I am confident that in more subtle dimensions we will continue the exchange and the ideation
After Harvest Comes Rest
As I left San Francisco, I felt the need for rest—to let the soil recover after this generous exchange. I know that seeds of change and collaboration are now held by the GBHI community, and I am hopeful that our shared insights will continue to grow, shaping a new field of connection between brain health and the health of our planet.
This exchange is blooming already in our hearts. Tomas, a participant from the community event at On Lok, painted this artwork inspired by the GAWI experience. Let there be more seeds to blossom from this visit.
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