ENHANCING
THE USE
OF VR IN
HEALTHCARE
URGENT COVID-19 RESPONSE
At the start of the pandemic we came together to see how VR could solve some of the issues the healthcare systems will encounter now and in the future.
Our first project DR.VR Frontline has successfully finished a service evaluations of VR to support the mental health and wellbeing of front-line NHS staff during the COVID-19 pandemic [These results have been made public for speed]. We are now engaging with partners to deploy, gain deeper learning and refine the impact VR can make.
The COVID-19 Frontline VR initiative was inspired by the work of Dr. Ceri Lynch and Gemma Jones.
They ran a feasibility study focused on using VR in ICU to improve the mood, anxiety and pain of patients and their families. The study also investigated whether mood and anxiety of ICU staff was helped by using VR.
This study took place in 2019 in Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board.
Given our current understanding of conditions and challenges for frontline staff, along with the evidence for using virtual reality, an intervention aimed at limiting burnout and supporting mental health and wellbeing of staff is well justified.
Feedback was overwhelmingly positive with 100% of users reporting an improvement in at least one of the modalities measured and every free-text feedback containing at least one positive statement.