In the not-too-distant future, older adults who need physical therapy could strap on a pair of virtual reality glasses and visit a “clinic” from wherever they live.
The vision for some VR healthcare startups is to make it commonplace for an entire suite of care to exist virtually.
“We believe most out-patient rooms will exist in the Metaverse,” said Eran Orr, CEO of XRHealth, during a recent webinar hosted by VIVE on how VR is reshaping healthcare. “That is what we are trying to build.”
One benefit of using virtual therapy rooms, compared with in-person visits, is that it becomes easier to track vitals and mobility metrics in real time, Orr said.
The XRHealth speakers listed chronic pain and neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease as the most common reasons for using their tech.
Approximately 30% of older adults deal with chronic pain, and often this subset of individuals has trouble accessing proper care to manage the condition, according to a recent survey conducted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Although, often, older adults or others attempting physical therapy view clinicians as “professional torturers,” using a VR setting can allow for a person to focus on something other than his or her pain or soreness from movement, said Lindsey van den Dungen, clinical liaison for XRHealth.
“We get a lot of feedback from patients that it’s fun,” van den Dungen said of the virtual appointments. “Chronic pain patients are often quite fearful of in-person visits. We can take away some of their stress and anxiety and start to introduce gentle movements before challenging them a bit more.”
In addition to expanding options for VR healthcare, senior living communities continue to add VR tools, such as virtual tours, to their offerings.
One retirement community that recently added virtual tours is Shell Point near Fort Myers, FL. Prospective residents now can tour its new luxury independent living campus, Vista Cay, the company announced this week.
Two facilities run by Salmon Health and Retirement in Massachusetts also added 360-degree virtual tours on their websites earlier in the fall.
