Anna Kieltyka

Dr. Amber Strother

English 170

17 April 2019

Implementing Virtual Reality into the Healthcare System

Walking into a hospital today would be an entirely different experience compared to

twenty years ago. Technology is taking over the healthcare system, specifically due to the

emergence of virtual reality. Virtual reality (VR) is an immersive three-dimensional experience

that gives the impression of the real world through a headset that uses computer graphics to

display images and sounds. Recently, many studies have been completed throughout the

healthcare system to stimulate real-life situations to patients suffering from a variety of diseases.

These studies have shown how beneficial VR technology will be as it continues to grow. VR is

being used on people of all ages to benefit those suffering from diseases such as pediatric

neurology (ADHD, autism, and cerebral palsy), negative body image, intense burns, and

dementia, thus providing a better lifestyle by enhancing happiness, safety, and flexibility to those

affected by such diseases.

The emergence of VR technology is providing a new, safer, less painful way for

physicians to treat their patients. Patient care is always the physician’s top priority. It is their job

to maintain a safe environment for their patient and put them in as little pain as possible. VR is in

the experimenting stage all throughout medicine, and has been successful in pain relief,

psychology (e.g. PTSD, eating disorders), rehabilitation, and even training the next generation of

surgeons (Schultheis and Rizzo 297). When it comes to VR the possibilities are endless. VR

technology places the patient in an environment unlike any other that allows them to both
interact and become a part of the computer. VR is not simply watching a movie through a

headset, but it allows the patient to be part of a three-dimensional world that feels much like the

real world they live in. The freedom and the high-tech feeling that comes with using VR is what

draws many patients to the technology in the first place, but they do not realize just how happy

and relieved they will feel after immersing VR into their daily lives.

Pediatric VR therapy provides a flexible program for children suffering from

neurodevelopment disorders. Many children of today’s society are diagnosed with a

neurodevelopment disorder, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism

and cerebral palsy. Children with these disorders suffer greatly and have a hard time maintaining

focus during their therapy sessions. Each child is unique and requires a rehabilitation plan unique

to themselves, and “VR adds the flexibility required to individualize the activity for each child or

subgroup of children” (Wang and Reid 3). With VR the therapist is able to select a program that

is bound to “maximize engagement” with the child and create an atmosphere in which the child

is happy to be a part of. Thanks to VR these children are able to live a more exciting life both at

therapy sessions and back in their everyday lives.

Children with ADHD suffer from inattentive, impulsive, hyperactive behaviors on a daily

basis, yet the emergence of VR technology can allow them to learn to live a happier life with

these behaviors under control. Those suffering from ADHD attend treatment therapy sessions in

order to acclimate and be more attentive in school, home, and with others. With the emergence

of VR, those affected are able to engross and engage with technology in a way that keeps them

entertained and teaches them important everyday life skills. Working with children with these

disorders can be a challenging job, but “VR can lessen the burden on the instructor by presenting

exercises in a consistent and predictable manner while maintaining the child’s attention and
engagement” (Wang and Reid 3). The stimulation of the realistic world through the computer

allows the instructor to cater to each individual child’s needs and wants. They create a program

based off of the interests of the child which results in increased attention-span, engagement with

the exercise, and increased motivation levels. It is not unusual for children with ADHD to feel

abnormal and not a part of the group. By attending therapy, it is their goal to be like the other

kids, and VR allows the child to develop “confidence, self-efficacy, and requisite skills in a safe,

nonjudgmental environment [to] better prepare the child to approach [a] task in the real world”

(Wang and Reid 4). The child leaves therapy feeling better about who they are and want to

become because of the safe, friendly, and flexible environment that VR technology is giving

them.

The pediatric population is not the only population that is benefitting from the use of VR

in healthcare. Adolescents are engaging in VR technology to help them feel more comfortable in

their own skin. For many years it has been known that the teenage population has struggled with

having positive body image. Recently, a study has been analyzing the harsh reality of obesity and

eating disorders, and they believe that VR technology can help those suffering from this form of

anxiety to be perfect. Dr. Giuseppe Riva takes a look into what is known as the “allocentric lock

theory”: a third-person experience succumbed to “abstract knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes

related to the body” (285). Riva believes that the key to fixing this epidemic is to unlock this

theory through the use of VR. Most patients with these disorders are extremely self-conscious

and usually have some form of anxiety, so it is important they are at their comfort levels when at

therapy. To achieve this goal, VR is being implemented into therapy to “provide patients with a

safe setting where they can exist and experience life, thereby allowing them to be ‘emotionally

present’ inside the virtual environment” (Riva 287). Similar to the pediatric study, patients are
found to enjoy themselves more and feel comfortable in a virtual setting without all of the stress

associated with the real world that they are surrounded by.

The negative body image study proved true and concluded that VR is indeed a possible

tool to help modify body image and increase happiness in the adolescent age. Riva proved that

VR “may be as good or better than other approaches involving nutritional and cognitive

behavioral therapies” (289). VR gives the client something that they can relate to, engage in,

have fun with, and allows them to be a part of something that they might not otherwise get the

chance to in the real world. Technology today is given to young children from the very

beginning of their lives, so changing therapy to be something they can relate to will help the

Doctor learn more about their patient and achieve a new level of comfort that maybe is not

achievable otherwise. VR is providing hope and happiness for families of these adolescents, that

change is around the corner.

Not only does VR benefit the youth population, but doctors are now prescribing VR

services to adults to decrease pain levels without an opioid prescription. There is a current opioid

epidemic in America: too many opioids are being prescribed when not needed. Specifically,

adult burn patients are prescribed opioids to decrease the extreme pain they are under. Opioids

have “negative side effects…can increase hospital stay…and often do not eliminate all burn

pain…[and] risk developing a psychologic tolerance” (Faber et al. 2). The new use of VR is

changing the schema from opioid use to alternative methods. Away go all of the negatives of the

past to introduce a new way for dealing with severe pain. A study conducted by Albertus W.

Faber, Dr. David R. Patterson, and Marco Bremer analyzed the effects of virtual reality

technology when used to reduce burn patient wound dressing procedure pain. The study analyzed

patients around the age of twenty-eight to determine levels of pain experienced for a week during
wound care (Faber et al. 1). Burns on the skin cause extreme pain, especially when changing the

bandaging on a daily basis. VR is being tested to determine if the technology will psychology

reduce the pain that the patient is feeling.

The results of the study were significant to deem VR as an effective way to distract and

therefore decrease the pain levels of patients suffering from burn wounds. Faber and his

colleagues completed the largest sample of this kind to date, and the results showed promise as

to what VR can be. Adults suffering now have an alternative to opioids if they would like a more

analgesic approach without all of the harmful side effects attached to various drugs. When

changing and dressing the burns with VR, pain decreased as compared to changing the wounds

without it. The data proved true throughout the study, and showed the strongest promise when

given VR treatment in the first three days (Faber et al. 6). VR is thus making the awful

experience associated with wound care management more enjoyable for the patient: the ultimate

goal.

Immersion of VR into the healthcare system comes full circle when used for geriatric

dementia care. Dementia is a disorder that is becoming abundant throughout America due to the

aging population. Many forms of the disorder exist, but all “impair cognitive functions such as

memory, language, and executive functions necessary to plan, organize, and prioritize tasks

required for goal-directed behaviors” (Garcia et al. 123). Interactions between the patient and

their physical and social environments become blurred and impact the well-being of the patient.

Dementia progresses slowly through three stages, beginning with the inability to retain

information and eventually resulting in Alzheimer’s disease (Garcia et al. 123). VR technology is

giving the geriatric population a new opportunity to be exposed to confusing situations they may

be placed in their real lives by immersing them into virtual environments. The hope is that
through VR immersion, the many symptoms associated with the dementia population can be

slowed to not reach the Alzheimer stage. Garcia and others say that, “environmental

interventions have been the key to improved quality of life in dementia” (125). VR is able to

place the patient in scenarios that can help the patient learn what to do, should they forget where

they are. VR has promise to help the dementia patient feel more comfortable in their

environments.

Researchers and Doctors are also using VR technology to study patients with dementia in

order to see which environments place the patient in the most distress. Hooking up their patients

to a VR device will allow the researcher to compare the different environments of each

individual dementia patient. Confusion to environment is the biggest scare when it comes to

dementia and researchers are always trying to help their patients live the best quality of life

possible. To do so, “the objective may not be to learn a new skill but rather to understand how to

better design physical spaces or modify social environments” (Garcia et al. 131). VR is

becoming a popular study and technological tool to help dementia patients because of this

flexibility and ability to generate plans and programs that benefit each unique individual. It is

hard to change the real world to learn more about a patient and their triggers, but the virtual

world can continuously be changed to learn as much as possible about the patient. Not only does

the quality of life of the patient improve by placing them in more comfortable situations, but VR

allows caregivers to learn how to interact with their patients to help them be the most

comfortable they can be.

In today’s society it is not unusual to know someone who struggles with a health-related

disorder. Due to the influence of technology onto the healthcare system, those disorders are

closer than they ever have been before to finding a cure. VR technology in particular is one of
those new and promising technologies that is only “limited by the creativity and ingenuity of

those creating and applying the technology” (Virtual n.p.). As expressed above, VR is currently

being used to help a wide variety of people all experiencing a multitude of disorders: ADHD,

body image, severe burns, and dementia. However, focusing on the patient and how they benefit

from VR only scratches the surface of what VR can really do. The possibilities are endless and

will continue to make a positive impact on the healthcare system as a whole. People are even

comparing the emergence of VR to the once monumental technologies of the MRI machine as

well as penicillin. VR is now on the rise, and each study conducted seems to add new insight to

the many benefits (happiness, safety, flexibility) associated with VR for many patients across the

healthcare system. It is changing the way that people prescribe medicine and is allowing for

more person-specific care, so patients are sure to get the best treatment possible. Healthcare will

thus be changed forever because of the emergence of VR.

 Works Cited

Faber, Albertus W., David R. Patterson and Marco Bremer. “Repeated Use of Immersive Virtual

Reality Therapy to Control Pain during Wound Dressing Changes in Pediatric and Adult

Burn Patients.” Journal of Burn Care & Research, vol. 34, no. 5, 2013, pp. 563-568.

Garcia, Lind, Adi Kartolo, and Eric Methot-Curtis. “A Discussion of the Use of Virtual Reality

in Dementia.” Virtual Reality in Psychological, Medical and Pedagogical Applications,

vol. 1, 2012, pp. 123-132.

Riva, Giuseppe Ph.D. “Key to Unlocking the Virtual Body: Virtual Reality in the Treatment of

Obesity and Eating Disorders.” Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology, vol. 5, no.

2, 2011, pp. 283-292.

Schultheis, Maria T. and Albert A. Rizzo. “The Application of Virtual Reality Technology in

Rehabilitation.” Rehabilitation Psychology, vol. 46, no.3, 2011, pp. 296-311.

“Virtual Reality in Healthcare.” Visualise,Visualise Creative, 2019, https://visualise.com/virtual-

reality/virtual-reality-healthcare. Accessed 19 April 2019.

Wang, Michelle and Denise Reid. “Virtual Reality in Pediatric Neurorehabilitation: Attention

Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism and Cerebral Palsy.” Neuroepidemiology, vol. 36, no.1,

2011, pp. 2-18.