Table 3 Perceived utility of VR within a hospital environment
Category of use | Potential applications of VR technology | Example/s | N (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
Clinical education and skill development | Simulations and workplace training | Simulated emergency response training | 111 (82) |
Educational clinical learning | Immersive anatomy, physiology, and/or surgical tutorials | 109 (80) | |
Therapeutic applications | Rehabilitation or physical therapy | To enable patients to undertake physical therapy tasks in a simulated virtual environment | 93 (68) |
Education of patients and their families | To help explain medical conditions, surgical procedures and/or treatments to patients and their families | 90 (66) | |
Counselling and/or psychological therapy | Delivery of graded exposure therapy, in a virtual environment | 77 (56) | |
Surgical procedures | To assist with planning and/or conducting complex procedures | 71 (52) | |
Pain management | As an adjunct form of analgesia for people with painful conditions (e.g. phantom limb pain) or during painful procedures (e.g. dressing changes) | 68 (51) | |
Othera | - Virtual, end of life experiences (such as visiting remote locations) in Palliative Care - Diversional therapy - Dementia care - For virtual care interactions between patients and providers | 14 (10) | |
Logistical, design and infrastructure | Hospital tours/hospital orientation | Conducting virtual hospital orientation for patients and/or visitors | 64 (47) |
Familiarisation to clinical environments | Familiarising patients to radiological equipment prior to receiving scans and/or treatment | 58 (42) | |
Hospital design and planning | For viewing and appraising proposed hospital renovations and redesign plans | 55 (40) | |
None | No possible uses | - | 2 (1) |