The VROAD project

Virtual reality (VR) might be one of the new technologies with greatest potentiality. Given the circumstances of inpatient psychiatry units and the COVID-19 related stressors, VR could help inpatients meet some of their needs. The aim of this project is twofold: first, to explore the barriers and facilitators that could lead to a sustainable adoption of VR in acute psychiatry wards. Second, to test the feasibility, acceptability and impact of a co-created VR nature exposure in patients admitted to an acute psychiatry ward. The initial phase of the project, qualitative in nature, will focus on barriers and facilitators of implementation under an appropriate and valid framework. In-depth interviews will be conducted with patients and staff. Qualitative inputs, also gathered from specific groups conducted under co-creation principles, will be used to design the final VR exposure, which will be based on commercially available VR software. The second phase will evaluate the feasibility, acceptability and the impact of the co-created VR nature exposure on patients’ satisfaction with the admission and perceived stress during hospitalization. As the main output of this project, we expect to deliver a body of knowledge that should convince stakeholders, clinicians, patients and other key actors of the mental healthcare system that VR is able to increase the quality and effectiveness of care in acute psychiatry wards. Furthermore the insights gathered throughout this project should make the sustained implementation of VR in any acute psychiatric ward in our country a valid, feasible and likely objective.