Virtual reality (VR) is the capability to interact with an object or environment digitally reproduced that simulates a real-world experience. In healthcare settings, VR is used to improve the movement for patients undergoing rehabilitation or to distract and relax during medical procedures. VR is still in the beginning stages of its use and adoption within the practice of medicine. In this article, we provide a scoping review of the existing literature identifying barriers and facilitators to use of VR in healthcare settings.
The majority of barriers discovered by this study related to the adopter system categories and organization categories in the NASSS framework. These included the need for healthcare professionals to be hop over to this web-site trained and educated on VR, the absence of evidence and research on the value added by virtual reality in the context of treatment, and the perception of low confidence and self-efficacy to use VR in the treatment of patients. Many studies have recommended the use of methods of behavioral change, such as education and training or intervision groups to support clinicians’ decision-making processes regarding VR.
Facilitators were less often identified because of the younger age of patients who may be more open to new technology and more comfortable with it. The fact that VR offers an immersive and interactive experience which stimulates the senses and promotes a deeper understanding of complicated scientific concepts. Moreover, the ability of VR to replicate real-world environments such as the surface of planets, or the structure of atoms makes it a powerful educational tool that lets students explore and explore complicated and abstract ideas that might be difficult to grasp in traditional classroom settings.