Who wouldn't seize an opportunity to spend half an hour enjoying a walk in the woods or by the sea – by virtual reality? If you were detained on a mental health ward, it would only be all the more welcome.
As demand continues to soar for mental health care, more and more patients also need to be admitted to hospital for in-patient care – and of these, some will be detained there under the Mental Health Act. With many of these patients unwilling to be there, it's no wonder that such wards may feel negative, depressing environments.
It was in just such a setting that an experiment used virtual reality to reduce stress levels, a year or two ago. King's College London led the experiment as part of their research into clinical uses of AI in mental health care.
Patients could experience being in a natural setting in the great outdoors, walking in a forest or along a seashore. What a welcome change of scene. Virtual reality could transport them far away from the ward. No wonder too, then, that patients wanted to continue the experience for longer than researchers intended.
Since this initial experiment, it's also been extended to staff. With stress levels spiralling amidst NHS staff, maybe this will be replicated.
Immersive, multi-sensory, stimulating and energising: virtual reality throws open the doors. It overcomes distance and ill health. Imagine replicating the experiment with patients in other hospital departments, maybe patients enduring a long stay in hospital. With harsh lighting and few windows, hospitals can feel unfamiliar worlds of their own, so virtual reality could become a haven. Care home residents might also enjoy virtual reality as most go outside only rarely.
For people who are housebound or bedbound, virtual reality could also restore a window on the wider world. Even for most people with mobility issues who do go out and about, the countryside is less accessible because of uneven ground. Virtual reality overcomes this too.
No, virtual reality is not real. It could be confusing, particularly to people with cognition issues or dementia. Coming back to reality once the experience ends could be distressing. But it can enrich life where it is needed. I wonder too if it could form part of a deeper "remote experience" of nature? People could be sent or presented with natural materials to touch, look at and think about – pressed leaves or flowers maybe, stones or berries. They could also have a chance to respond to the virtual reality in creative ways – maybe drawing or painting, maybe making a collage or word picture about what they've experienced and how they felt. All this might make the virtual reality more tangible and preserve its memory, linking real and unreal.
So many remote initiatives started during Covid, but they're still needed by many, many people who are unable to go out one way or another. AI might feel a world away from the natural world, but it's a tool to help reconnect with just that.
Do you have any thoughts or experiences to share? Just go to Medley's Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/359291215486002 Thank you.
No comments:
Post a Comment