How virtual reality can improve pediatric care

VR can help children overcome needle fear and allow pediatricians to improve medical care.

Dr. Evelyn Chan, SmileyScope 

Needles are involved in the most common office procedures and needle fear is nearly universal in young children.

Virtual reality (VR) technology might offer a solution.

Studies show nearly two-thirds of children and one-fourth of adults have a fear of needles. Poorly managed childhood procedures can have lifelong consequences, including anxiety, healthcare and vaccine avoidance (one in 10 adults avoid COVID vaccination because of needle fear), and complications from delaying healthcare access. This costs the U.S. an estimated $1.5 billion each year.

Our vaccination rates in children are down. A study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed a decline in vaccine rates for children to 93% in the 2021-22 school year.  Although there are several factors that might have caused the decline, needle pain and needle anxiety can become contributing factors to vaccine hesitancy and healthcare anxiety.

So how can healthcare professionals improve the clinical experience for young patients? A new VR technology might be the answer for millions of patients with fears and concerns about visiting the clinic and is quickly becoming the new standard of care to address the needle pain and anxiety associated with these common and needed procedures.

How VR can help

As a pediatrician, the first question that I was asked by most children was, “Do I have to get a shot today?” That fear would cloud the entire encounter and often make it impossible to manage pressing medical issues. Needle procedures that should take minutes could take hours and additional staff, delaying important diagnoses and treatments. Creating a calm and comfortable environment during procedures is a priority for healthcare professionals, and virtual reality can help.

Virtual reality can take advantage of how our brain recognizes pain. It can help replace negative, scary, real-world stimuli with positive, friendly, virtual stimuli. This technique, known as Procedural Choreography, aligns real-world experiences with a virtual storyline.

For example, a child using VR to experience an underwater adventure may at the same time be receiving a standard vaccination from a nurse. Waves wash over the child’s arm as the nurse sanitizes the injection site. Fish nibble at their arm as the nurse administers the vaccine. The child enjoys exploring underwater while receiving a more enjoyable healthcare visit.  Results from studies showed that this safely and effectively reduced pediatric needle pain by 60% and anxiety by 40%.

Our healthcare providers benefit from this improved clinical experience as well, reducing the need for restraining pediatric patients by almost 50%. Instead of requiring additional staff members to assist with the procedure, this frees them up to attend to other cases and protects them — and their patients — from injury caused by distress. Caregivers also benefit, rating their child’s distress levels 75% less than caregivers whose children did not receive VR.

Virtual reality is expanding in healthcare

While VR is a recent addition to the healthcare industry, it is quickly becoming a standard of care, particularly for children. Healthcare providers are becoming increasingly familiar with VR and are using the technology more broadly in clinics and hospitals as a result.

This is just the beginning as even this device — initially conceived to help with needle pain — has been used in a variety of cases, such as helping a child with autism deal with sensory overload during an MRI or a patient suffering through procedural pain.

It won’t be long before you will see virtual reality utilized at your family’s physician’s office. When you do, don’t be afraid to step into the virtual world and make your healthcare experience less stressful and more comfortable.

Dr. Evelyn Chan is the CEO and founder of SmileyScope, a virtual reality solution for needle procedures used by healthcare practitioners. Chan is a Rhodes Scholar who used her experience as a pediatrician to develop a first-of-its-kind medical VR device in 2017. You can learn more about her on LinkedIn.

Original Article: (https://www.medicaldesignandoutsourcing.com/how-virtual-reality-can-improve-pediatric-care/)