Virtual Reality Therapy for the Psychological Well-being of Palliative Care Patients in Hong Kong

TL;DR

This paper introduces novel VR and AR interventions designed to enhance psychological well-being in palliative care patients by enabling immersive communication and therapy, especially during COVID-19 restrictions.

Contribution

It presents two innovative systems: a networked metaverse platform for collaborative virtual environments and an AR system with mixed reality telepresence and haptic feedback for emotional support.

Findings

Successful adaptation of VR/AR for palliative care therapies

Enhanced communication with family and friends in virtual environments

Potential improvements in patient psychological well-being

Abstract

In this paper we introduce novel Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) treatments to improve the psychological well being of patients in palliative care, based on interviews with a clinical psychologist who has successfully implemented VR assisted interventions on palliative care patients in the Hong Kong hospital system. Our VR and AR assisted interventions are adaptations of traditional palliative care therapies which simultaneously facilitate patients communication with family and friends while isolated in hospital due to physical weakness and COVID-19 related restrictions. The first system we propose is a networked, metaverse platform for palliative care patients to create customized virtual environments with therapists, family and friends which function as immersive and collaborative versions of 'life review' and 'reminiscence therapy'. The second proposed system will investigate the use of Mixed Reality telepresence and haptic touch in an AR environment, which will allow palliative care patients to physically feel friends and family in a virtual space, adding to the sense of presence and immersion in that environment.