Hospice patients plug into pain-free world of virtual reality
A hospice in west London is using virtual reality technology to help its patients manage anxiety and pain.
Meadow House, a day hospice and 15-bed inpatient unit located in the grounds of Ealing Hospital, has been trialling the headsets for the past month.
The service, which is managed by London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, provides specialist palliative care and support to patients and their families in the London boroughs of Ealing and Hounslow.
Specialist nurse Jennifer Draper says it has been popular with both in-house and day patients offering ten seven minute virtual reality (VR) experiences including outer space, underwater and wildlife adventures.
Jennifer said: “It is primarily a distraction tool to help manage pain and has come from America where it has seen widespread use in tackling the opioid epidemic.
“It has a different use here but the distraction technique is still the same as many of our patients live with pain, despite medication. It relieves anxiety and aids relaxation and breathing.”
Patient Joy said: “I’ve been into space today, walked with penguins in the Arctic and seen the Great Wall of China and the Egyptian Pyramids.
“It’s a fantastic. I’ve never experienced virtual reality before and it just blew me away.”
Virtual reality already has several uses in medicine including patients being taken through their surgical procedure with a 360° VR reconstruction of their anatomy.
The technology has come from Cardiff based company Rescape.