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. 2024 Jan 4:10:20552076231223801.
doi: 10.1177/20552076231223801. eCollection 2024 Jan-Dec.

'It's not everybody's snapshot. It's just an insight into that world': A qualitative study of multiple perspectives towards understanding the mental health experience and addressing stigma in healthcare students through virtual reality

Raul Szekely  1 , Oliver Mason  1 , David Frohlich  2 , Elizabeth Barley  3
Affiliations

'It's not everybody's snapshot. It's just an insight into that world': A qualitative study of multiple perspectives towards understanding the mental health experience and addressing stigma in healthcare students through virtual reality

Raul Szekely et al. Digit Health. .

Abstract

Objective: The resurgence of virtual reality (VR) technologies has led to their increased use in contemporary healthcare education. One promising application is simulating the experiences of individuals with mental health conditions (MHCs) to reduce stigma among future healthcare professionals. This study set out to explore what those impacted by, or involved in, the education of healthcare students think about using VR in this way.

Methods: One individual interview and five focus groups were conducted with healthcare students (n = 7), healthcare educators (n = 6), and lived experience experts (n = 5). Before sharing their perspectives, participants familiarised themselves with VR equipment and immersive materials simulating MHCs. The constant comparative method and thematic analysis were used to analyse the data.

Results: Participants recognised the acceptability and utility of VR for addressing mental health stigma in healthcare students, emphasising the immersive nature of this technology. However, some participants raised concerns about the limited insight VR could provide into the experiences of patients with the same MHCs and its potential emotional impact on users. Participants recommended the incorporation of interactive, realistic environments with a person-centred focus into future VR-based stigma reduction interventions while stressing the importance of providing healthcare students with opportunities for reflection and support.

Conclusions: Healthcare students, healthcare educators, and lived experience experts highlighted both advantages and barriers associated with using VR to understand the experience of patients with MHCs. Furthermore, the recommendations put forward can inform the design, content, and delivery of VR-based stigma reduction interventions in healthcare education.

Keywords: Virtual reality technologies; healthcare educators; healthcare students; lived experience; mental health stigma; qualitative research.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Diagram illustrating the constructed themes and corresponding sub-themes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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