Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: May 5, 2023
Date Accepted: Oct 13, 2023
The use of immersive Virtual Reality (VR) spaces to engage adolescent and young adult (AYA) oncology patients in therapist-guided support groups: A Protocol Review
ABSTRACT
Background:
For adolescents and young adults (AYAs), a cancer diagnoses can magnify feelings of social isolation at an inherently vulnerable developmental stage. Prior studies have highlighted the importance of peer groups during cancer treatment. Support groups help foster connection and resilience, but patients find in-person participation difficult due to a variety of factors. Additionally, physical changes brought on by cancer makes these patients hesitant to meet in person. The COVID-19 pandemic magnified these difficulties. Virtual reality (VR) allows for the creation of a therapist-curated, computer-generated social space that potentially enables support groups for this population.
Objective:
This protocol describes a pilot study examining the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a social VR support group intervention for AYA patients.
Methods:
We approached 20 participants, ages 17-20 and 16 agreed to participate. One participant dropped out due to hospitalization. Participants attended virtual, professionally facilitated support groups using Meta Quest 1 VR headsets. Groups consisted of 4 participants and 1 facilitator, amounting to a total of 22 individual sessions. Each session lasted 45-60 minutes and took place weekly for 4-6 weeks. The primary aim of the study was to collect quantitative and qualitative data on the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention. Feasibility was measured through session participation rates and overall retention rates. Acceptability of the intervention was explored through brief in-person interviews with participants at the end of the final intervention session. The secondary aim of the study was to collect data on the preliminary efficacy of the intervention in decreasing symptoms of participant depression and anxiety and increasing positive affect and resiliency. Data for the secondary aim was collected through standardized assessments prior to the first session and immediately after the final session.
Results:
Fifteen patients aged 17-20 participated in a total of 22 sessions between November 5, 2019, and July 8, 2021. The median age of participants was 19 years. Ten participants identified as male (62.5%), 5 as female (31.3%), and 1 as transgender female (6.3%). Six participants identified as Non-Hispanic White (37.5%), 3 identified as Non-Hispanic Black (18.8%), 1 identified as Non-Hispanic Asian (6.3%), 5 identified as Hispanic (31.3%), and 1 identified as Other Race or Ethnicity (6.3%). Hematologic Malignancies/Bone Marrow Failure was the most common diagnosis. Mean attendance rate was 70.7% and retention was 86.7%. 45% of sessions had to be postponed by a week or more due to unexpected participant scheduling issues.
Conclusions:
The use of VR to deliver psychosocial support for AYAs with cancer may reduce common barriers associated with attending in-person peer support groups while improving quality of life measures. Data from this study will inform future studies focused on conducting VR support groups in other rare disease populations, including older adults with cancer.
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© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.