England has become the first country in the world to launch clinical training in perinatal mental health using extended reality technology.
A patient avatar has been developed by Health Education England, in partnership with Fracture Reality, and enables healthcare learners to expand their skills interacting with people with perinatal mental health problems through a series of instructor-driven simulations.
Learners interact with Stacey, the avatar, using a headset. Learners are able to have realistic and natural conversations with Stacey, and ask her about her symptoms and make plans to get her the right support. These scenarios represent the types of real-life conversations health professionals may have with perinatal mental health patients.
The training experience has already been evaluated by the Centre for Immersive Technologies at the University of Leeds, using 100 participants including GP and mental health nurse trainees, as well as students training to become doctors or aspiring to be clinical psychologists. Almost four out of five (79%) learners said they preferred this simulation training over traditional approaches.
Rebecca Burgess-Dawson, national clinical lead for Mental Health at Health Education England, said: “Stacey provides students and learners with a wealth of scenarios that they may encounter while they are working in a clinical setting, all in a natural and realistic way.
“The potential impact that she has on perinatal mental health training is enormous and she will have a real benefit for learners in gaining the practice and skills they need for future patients they treat.”
Dr Faisal Mushtaq, director of the Centre for Immersive Technologies, said: “The enormous potential for XR to accelerate learning has been clear for some time. But thus far, most examples in healthcare have been limited to areas involving ‘technical skills’.
“For example, we, and others, have shown how VR can be used to learn to perform surgical procedures.
“This project is significant because it demonstrates how these technologies can help people deal with difficult emotionally challenging conversations that can arise in mental health consultations. This is a big step forward for using XR to support learning and skill acquisition.”
Image by Cindy Parks from Pixabay
