Virtual Leisure - Virtual Reality Delivered Recreation at a Closed Psychiatric Ward

Mental Health Services in the Capital Region, Denmark

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Psychiatric Hospitalization

Treatments: Device: Virtual Reality Experiences

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05654740

1000

Details and patient eligibility

About

Background: The environment at a psychiatric in-patient ward can lead to emotional distress and behavioral deviations in vulnerable individuals potentially resulting in conflicts, increased use of need-based medication and coercive actions, along with low satisfaction with treatment. To accommodate these challenges recreational and entertaining interventions are generally recommended. The tested interventions have, however, shown varying effects and often demand a high degree of planning and staff involvement while also being difficult to adapt to individual needs. Virtual Reality (VR) may help overcome these challenges.

Methods: The study is a clinical trial, employing a mixed-methods design, enrolling 124 patients hospitalized at one closed psychiatric ward in the capital region of Denmark. All patients will be offered VR based stress reduction (e.g., mindfulness/relaxation techniques), entertainment, and distraction regularly during their hospitalization. Feasibility and acceptability will be explored with qualitative interviews supplemented with repeated non-participants observations and focus groups. The effect of the intervention will be assessed by comparing quantitative outcomes (e.g., coercion, need-based medication, and perceived stress) for a 12-month period with VR experiences available to a 12-month period without VR experiences available.

Discussion: It is of significant interest to find non-intrusive interventions with minimal side-effects that may provide an alternative to pharmacological interventions and coercive actions in mental health services. If the VR intervention is found to be feasible and acceptable a larger study can be initiated and if found to be effective in a psychiatric in-patient setting, it can be scaled for use in psychiatric treatment facilities in general where it may benefit a large group of patients.

Enrollment: 124 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 100 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Admitted to a closed psychiatric ward
• Ability to give informed consent

Exclusion criteria

• Significantly impaired vision hindering engagement in Virtual Reality experiences

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Non-Randomized

Interventional model: Sequential Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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124 participants in 2 patient groups

Virtual Reality experiences

Experimental group

Description:

Virtual Reality experiences are offered regularly

Treatment:

Device: Virtual Reality Experiences

No Virtual Reality

No Intervention group

Description:

Virtual Reality experiences are not offered