Palliative care patients at Nepean Hospital will soon get to explore the world from their hospital beds with newly donated virtual reality (VR) sets donated by local charity, Our Community Cares and VR specialists, Mobiddiction.
Local organisations donate virtual reality heads to enhance palliative care services
Not just for watching movies and playing games, virtual reality can eliminate the boredom and stress of the hospital environment for patients.
With pre-programmed experiences, patients will be able to immerse themselves in a virtual world where they can recreate the rush of going skydiving, explore the wilderness and listen to sounds of nature, or travel to another land taking in the breathtaking sites of another country.
In recent years VR has been shown to improve patient outcomes such as managing pain, supporting patient anxiety levels, physical therapy, and rehabilitation.
Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District Senior Staff Specialist, Supportive & Palliative Care Dr Alan Oloffs says the VR devices will make a big difference to many of our palliative care and cancer patients.
"This technology will allow them to have experiences they no longer can have otherwise and improve the quality of their lives," says Dr Alan Oloffs.
The virtual reality clinical experience is one of the first of its kind for Nepean Hospital as it has a specific VR enabled application designed for use with the patient experience in mind.
Supportive and Palliative Nurse Practitioner, Rebecca Palmer explains how VR can offer the very best possible experience of care at a truly difficult time.
"We are able to offer patients the chance to experience spectacular sights from around the world, to reconnect to the past and share precious memories with their family & friends, that is truly something special," says Rebecca.
