Improving care delivery with immersive technology

VA Immersive implements immersive technology across VA facilities

Many people associate virtual reality (VR) headsets and augmented reality with gaming or other forms of entertainment, but health care professionals at VA see them as an opportunity to use immersive technology to significantly improve Veteran care.

VA Immersive is a program that works to implement immersive technology, such as VR headsets, at VA facilities. This technology can be used across multiple clinical specialties to improve care delivery and Veterans’ experience. Uses include neurological risk assessment, pain management, anxiety and PTSD treatment, addiction recovery, physical and recreational therapy, and more.

“The benefits of immersive technology are wild, wide and expansive,” said Dr. Anne Lord Bailey, executive director of Strategic Initiatives Lab (Strat Lab) under AI and Emerging Technologies in VHA’s Digital Health Office. Strat Lab’s largest portfolio of effort is VA Immersive. “We are really excited to see how immersive technology benefits Veterans in ways nothing else has.”

Technology that works

The benefits of this technology for Veteran care are already being seen across VA. For example, across all clinical implementations in VA to date, there was a 29% decrease in anxiety based on State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Scale-5 (STAIS-5) and a 29% decrease in pain perception based on Defense and Veterans Pain Rating Scale (DVPRS). While these results are not based on a controlled research study, these results reflect the self-report of more than 4,900 Veterans who were asked before and after use of virtual reality.

“We leverage a mechanism of adherence and mechanisms of engagement to take evidence-based and evidence-informed protocols—things we’re already using in health care—and put them into a modality that Veterans will actually use,” Bailey said.

Immersive technology across VA

In the past eight years, VA Immersive has helped more than 170 VA facilities adopt immersive technology. This includes facilities in all 50 states, as well as in Guam, Puerto Rico and American Samoa.

According to Bailey, VA Immersive has served more than 10,000 Veterans.

“We’re excited to see that number continue to grow,” Bailey added. “The future of immersive technology is unlimited.”

VA Immersive staff aren’t looking for this to be just a flashy technology. Their goal is for this technology to become normal in Veteran care—for use at VA facilities and in Veterans’ homes.

To learn more about immersive care technology at VA, visit the VA Healthcare Innovation and Learning website.