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Virtual Reality for In Vivo Exposure for Post Traumatic Stress
Share PrintVA Immersive utilizes virtual reality (VR) to develop skills for managing, treating, and coping with PTSD and other trauma-related diagnoses. Through the XRHealth virtual reality platform, clinicians can offer Veterans virtual in vivo exposure-like environments, as well as mindfulness activities, to support decreased stress responsive and improved behavioral health in a safe, virtual environment. This content is available for Veterans with their VA provider in clinic or in the comfort of their own home.
Origin:
September 2022, Hershel "Woody" Williams VA Medical Center (Huntington, West Virginia)
Adoptions:
9 successful, 2 unsuccessful
Recent Updates
Overview
Problem
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is common amongst Veterans, and often, they face daily challenges affecting their quality of life. PTSD manifests differently across individual Veterans and can be difficult to treat. The complexity of PTSD makes transitioning back into civilian life difficult and promotes detrimental behaviors such as substance abuse, a
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Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is common amongst Veterans, and often, they face daily challenges affecting their quality of life. PTSD manifests differently across individual Veterans and can be difficult to treat. The complexity of PTSD makes transitioning back into civilian life difficult and promotes detrimental behaviors such as substance abuse, anxiety and depression.
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Solution
This solution offers unique, personalized treatment options for Veterans with PTSD. Veterans can manage their symptoms in very low risk, controlled environments with exposure therapy methods. This innovation provides a cost-effective solution that Veterans can do in office or in the comfort of their home to effectively treat symptoms associated with distress
...
This solution offers unique, personalized treatment options for Veterans with PTSD. Veterans can manage their symptoms in very low risk, controlled environments with exposure therapy methods. This innovation provides a cost-effective solution that Veterans can do in office or in the comfort of their home to effectively treat symptoms associated with distressing environments. A total of 60 VR sessions have been completed so far to treat Veterans with PTSD in Veterans. The most used virtual environments are driving on the highway, diaphragmatic breathing under water and driving in the city. Other environments that were most used were basements and small rooms, darkness and storms, street, trip to the airport, airplane, boarding gates, and New York City rooftop.
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Results
a. Shorter exposure therapy sessions due to the variety of VR environments that are available and the ease of switching between them: This leads to a more manageable provider workload.
b. Treatment Flexibility: VR environments can be adjusted in real time to maximize the impact of the session and fit the patient’s needs.
c. Multipurpose Environments: Envi ... a. Shorter exposure therapy sessions due to the variety of VR environments that are available and the ease of switching between them: This leads to a more manageable provider workload.
b. Treatment Flexibility: VR environments can be adjusted in real time to maximize the impact of the session and fit the patient’s needs.
c. Multipurpose Environments: Environments can be used for a variety of therapeutic needs. See more
b. Treatment Flexibility: VR environments can be adjusted in real time to maximize the impact of the session and fit the patient’s needs.
c. Multipurpose Environments: Envi ... a. Shorter exposure therapy sessions due to the variety of VR environments that are available and the ease of switching between them: This leads to a more manageable provider workload.
b. Treatment Flexibility: VR environments can be adjusted in real time to maximize the impact of the session and fit the patient’s needs.
c. Multipurpose Environments: Environments can be used for a variety of therapeutic needs. See more
Metrics
- Pre to post Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDs) scores
- Medication utilization
- Veteran and clinician experiences
- Costs and resource savings
Diffusion tracker
Does not include Clinical Resource Hubs (CRH)
Implementation
Core Resources
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About
Origin story
VA recognized an opportunity to provide additional tailored tools to Veterans impacted by post-traumatic stress, particularly during the pandemic when in vivo exposure, a common clinical approach, was a greater clinical challenge. By leveraging an engaging and immersive modality like VR to teach important response skills or to help process trauma response, V
...
VA recognized an opportunity to provide additional tailored tools to Veterans impacted by post-traumatic stress, particularly during the pandemic when in vivo exposure, a common clinical approach, was a greater clinical challenge. By leveraging an engaging and immersive modality like VR to teach important response skills or to help process trauma response, VA can provide more tools to clinicians and offer additional resources to Veterans. These experiences offer a variety of VR content, ranging from relaxation and mindfulness activities to experiences that might cause a traumatic response if encountered in real life.
Comment
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