Abstract
Recently there has been a global recognition on the importance of holistic person-centred care for patients with end-stage diseases. This project aims to heighten student awareness on navigating the care needs of these patients and develop ethical reasoning in end-of-life (EOL) care. Immersive virtual reality (IVR) technology that allows students to enter the virtual simulated ward environment and gain a genuine first-person unmediated experience from patient’s perspective will be used. Four IVR illustrating common ethical dilemmas in EOL care will provide students with a sense of presence through visual, auditory and haptic sensory feedback. The novelty of this pedagogical approach is that the experiential learning would enhance reflexivity of students of nursing and gerontology programmes on patients’ psycho-socio-spiritual needs. In addition, four micro-modules including interactive games and case studies will be developed for students to critically identify the ethical roles and responsibilities of health professionals in the provision of compassionate care. A pretest posttest study on the attitudes towards EOL care and three focus group interviews will be conducted to determine the project effects and understand students’ learning experience. The project will enable students to realize the ethical issues in EOL care through embodiment and thus can be applied in other health-related disciplines and general education in the university.
Brief write-up
Project objectives
• To heighten student awareness towards the care needs of patients with end-stage diseases
• To develop their ethical reasoning skills in end-of-life care
Activities, process and outcomes
The project was delivered through a total of 19 tutorials in five courses for approximately 565 undergraduate and postgraduate students in the Faculty of Medicine between May and November 2021. The results of an evaluation survey showed that students were generally satisfied with the learning activities in the project, with an average score of 7.9 out of 10. The qualitative comments showed that many of them appreciated the use of IVR technology for them to gain first-person experience.
Deliverables and evaluation
Four virtual reality videos are developed and available publicly at YouTube. These videos illustrate common ethical dilemmas regarding patient dignity, breaking bad news, feeding difficulties, and use of life-sustaining treatments in end-of-life care.
Dissemination, diffusion, impact and sharing of good practices
This project is presented and awarded “Best Paper of Practice” at the International Conference on Community End-of-Life Care and a webinar for hospice/palliative care in Southeast Asian countries in 2021. The abstract is available at Chan HYL, Ngan OMY, Wong WT. Experiential learning of end-of-life care through immersive virtual reality.
J Palliat Med 2021;24(7): A-27.
Impact on teaching and learning
The project deliverables help to ensure teachers in different clinical specialties and level of clinical or teaching experience can effectively engage students in reflecting and discussing the clinically complex issues.
