Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Apr 1;44(3):e799-e803.
doi: 10.1097/MPH.0000000000002289.

An Immersive Virtual Reality Curriculum for Pediatric Hematology Clinicians on Shared Decision-making for Hydroxyurea in Sickle Cell Anemia

Francis J Real  1   2 , Anna M Hood  3 , David Davis  4 , Bradley Cruse  4 , Melissa Klein  1   2 , Yolanda Johnson  5 , Emily McTate  1   5 , William B Brinkman  1   2 , Rogelle Hackworth, Kenyon Hackworth, Charles T Quinn  1   6 , Lori E Crosby  1   5
Affiliations

An Immersive Virtual Reality Curriculum for Pediatric Hematology Clinicians on Shared Decision-making for Hydroxyurea in Sickle Cell Anemia

Francis J Real et al. J Pediatr Hematol Oncol. .

Abstract

Although hydroxyurea (HU) is an effective treatment for sickle cell anemia, uptake remains low. Shared decision-making (SDM) is a recommended strategy for HU initiation to elicit family preferences; however, clinicians lack SDM training. We implemented an immersive virtual reality (VR) curriculum at 8 pediatric institutions to train clinicians on SDM that included counseling virtual patients. Clinicians' self-reported confidence significantly improved following the VR simulations on all communication skills assessed, including asking open-ended questions, eliciting specific concerns, and confirming understanding (Ps≤0.01 for all). VR may be an effective method for educating clinicians to engage in SDM for HU.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The virtual reality environment replicated a patient room that included the in-visit issue card to support providers in practicing shared decision with parent and patient avatars (A). Parent and patient avatars varied in appearance and could assume different body positions to indicate non-verbal cues to clinicians (B, C).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Clinician responses to specific items on the MEC-Spatial Presence Questionnaire. Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Smith AW, Bodas P, Sidebotham L, et al. Improving Uptake of Hydroxyurea in Patients with Sickle Cell Disease: A Retrospective Study of a Clinic-based Change in Consenting Practices. J Natl Med Assoc. 2019;111(2):169–175. - PubMed
    1. Yawn BP, Buchanan GR, Afenyi-Annan AN, et al. Management of sickle cell disease: summary of the 2014 evidence-based report by expert panel members. Jama. 2014;312(10):1033–1048. - PubMed
    1. Crosby LE, Shook LM, Ware RE, et al. Shared decision making for hydroxyurea treatment initiation in children with sickle cell anemia. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2015;62(2):184–185. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Crosby LE, Walton A, Shook LM, et al. Development of a Hydroxyurea Decision Aid for Parents of Children With Sickle Cell Anemia. J Pediatr Hematol Oncol. 2019;41(1):56–63. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hood AM, Strong H, Nwankwo C, et al. Engaging Caregivers and Providers of Children With Sickle Cell Anemia in Shared Decision Making for Hydroxyurea: Protocol for a Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Res Protoc. 2021;10(5):e27650. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types