Abstract
Background:
Recently, healthcare services have witnessed an exponential increase in the use of immersive and non-immersive virtual reality (VR) technology to improve health-related outcomes. However, the use of VR in palliative care remains relatively unexplored.
Aims:
To review and synthesise evidence regarding the experiences of patients, families and healthcare professionals in palliative care who have engaged with immersive/non-immersive VR technology.
Methods:
A systematic integrative review using pre-defined MeSH search terms to identify eligible studies from five electronic databases (Cochrane Library, CINAHL, OVID Medline, Pubmed and Scopus) between April 2020 and February 2021.
Findings:
In total, 1066 articles were reviewed, 55 articles were considered eligible and subject to further analysis and a total of 16 articles met the inclusion criteria and were subject to critical appraisal. Rigorous analysis of eligible articles resulted in the identification of five overarching and interconnected themes: connection, VR as an emergent technology, perceptual change, safety, and future research.
Conclusion:
This review identified that VR could support patients, families and healthcare professionals in palliative care. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the findings could prove particularly significant for facilitating connection. However, further research is necessary to explore the full scope of VR use in this speciality.
Recently, healthcare services have witnessed an exponential increase in the use of immersive and non-immersive virtual reality (VR) technology to improve health-related outcomes. However, the use of VR in palliative care remains relatively unexplored.
Aims:
To review and synthesise evidence regarding the experiences of patients, families and healthcare professionals in palliative care who have engaged with immersive/non-immersive VR technology.
Methods:
A systematic integrative review using pre-defined MeSH search terms to identify eligible studies from five electronic databases (Cochrane Library, CINAHL, OVID Medline, Pubmed and Scopus) between April 2020 and February 2021.
Findings:
In total, 1066 articles were reviewed, 55 articles were considered eligible and subject to further analysis and a total of 16 articles met the inclusion criteria and were subject to critical appraisal. Rigorous analysis of eligible articles resulted in the identification of five overarching and interconnected themes: connection, VR as an emergent technology, perceptual change, safety, and future research.
Conclusion:
This review identified that VR could support patients, families and healthcare professionals in palliative care. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the findings could prove particularly significant for facilitating connection. However, further research is necessary to explore the full scope of VR use in this speciality.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 132-144 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | International Journal of Palliative Nursing |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Early online date | 2 Mar 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published (in print/issue) - 22 Apr 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2022 MA Healthcare Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords
- Digital Health
- Virtual Reality
- Healthcare Technology
- Palliative Care
- End of Life Care
- virtual reality
- digital health
- healthcare technology
- palliative care
