Extended Reality–Enhanced Mental Health Consultation Training: Quantitative Evaluation Study
BackgroundThe use of extended reality (XR) technologies in health care can potentially address some of the significant resource and time constraints related to delivering training for health care professionals. While substantial progress in realizing this potential has been m...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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JMIR Publications
2025-04-01
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| Series: | JMIR Medical Education |
| Online Access: | https://mededu.jmir.org/2025/1/e64619 |
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| author | Katherine Hiley Zanib Bi-Mohammad Luke Taylor Rebecca Burgess-Dawson Dominic Patterson Devon Puttick-Whiteman Christopher Gay Janette Hiscoe Chris Munsch Sally Richardson Mark Knowles-Lee Celia Beecham Neil Ralph Arunangsu Chatterjee Ryan Mathew Faisal Mushtaq |
| author_facet | Katherine Hiley Zanib Bi-Mohammad Luke Taylor Rebecca Burgess-Dawson Dominic Patterson Devon Puttick-Whiteman Christopher Gay Janette Hiscoe Chris Munsch Sally Richardson Mark Knowles-Lee Celia Beecham Neil Ralph Arunangsu Chatterjee Ryan Mathew Faisal Mushtaq |
| author_sort | Katherine Hiley |
| collection | DOAJ |
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BackgroundThe use of extended reality (XR) technologies in health care can potentially address some of the significant resource and time constraints related to delivering training for health care professionals. While substantial progress in realizing this potential has been made across several domains, including surgery, anatomy, and rehabilitation, the implementation of XR in mental health training, where nuanced humanistic interactions are central, has lagged.
ObjectiveGiven the growing societal and health care service need for trained mental health and care workers, coupled with the heterogeneity of exposure during training and the shortage of placement opportunities, we explored the feasibility and utility of a novel XR tool for mental health consultation training. Specifically, we set out to evaluate a training simulation created through collaboration among software developers, clinicians, and learning technologists, in which users interact with a virtual patient, “Stacey,” through a virtual reality or augmented reality head-mounted display. The tool was designed to provide trainee health care professionals with an immersive experience of a consultation with a patient presenting with perinatal mental health symptoms. Users verbally interacted with the patient, and a human instructor selected responses from a repository of prerecorded voice-acted clips.
MethodsIn a pilot experiment, we confirmed the face validity and usability of this platform for perinatal and primary care training with subject-matter experts. In our follow-up experiment, we delivered personalized 1-hour training sessions to 123 participants, comprising mental health nursing trainees, general practitioner doctors in training, and students in psychology and medicine. This phase involved a comprehensive evaluation focusing on usability, validity, and both cognitive and affective learning outcomes.
ResultsWe found significant enhancements in learning metrics across all participant groups. Notably, there was a marked increase in understanding (P<.001) and motivation (P<.001), coupled with decreased anxiety related to mental health consultations (P<.001). There were also significant improvements to considerations toward careers in perinatal mental health (P<.001).
ConclusionsOur findings show, for the first time, that XR can be used to provide an effective, standardized, and reproducible tool for trainees to develop their mental health consultation skills. We suggest that XR could provide a solution to overcoming the current resource challenges associated with equipping current and future health care professionals, which are likely to be exacerbated by workforce expansion plans. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2661bbbcc3e64dfd92008f22f6aaa145 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2369-3762 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | JMIR Medical Education |
| spelling | doaj-art-2661bbbcc3e64dfd92008f22f6aaa1452025-08-20T03:04:26ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Medical Education2369-37622025-04-0111e6461910.2196/64619Extended Reality–Enhanced Mental Health Consultation Training: Quantitative Evaluation StudyKatherine Hileyhttps://orcid.org/0009-0000-1824-3850Zanib Bi-Mohammadhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9382-6829Luke Taylorhttps://orcid.org/0009-0006-7246-5116Rebecca Burgess-Dawsonhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6391-4019Dominic Pattersonhttps://orcid.org/0009-0007-8274-2030Devon Puttick-Whitemanhttps://orcid.org/0009-0000-2321-7200Christopher Gayhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8223-741XJanette Hiscoehttps://orcid.org/0009-0007-8904-709XChris Munschhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3204-2112Sally Richardsonhttps://orcid.org/0009-0009-3293-1065Mark Knowles-Leehttps://orcid.org/0009-0007-0467-5960Celia Beechamhttps://orcid.org/0009-0003-8752-9002Neil Ralphhttps://orcid.org/0009-0002-8948-4437Arunangsu Chatterjeehttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-9506-6007Ryan Mathewhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2609-9876Faisal Mushtaqhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-7881-1127 BackgroundThe use of extended reality (XR) technologies in health care can potentially address some of the significant resource and time constraints related to delivering training for health care professionals. While substantial progress in realizing this potential has been made across several domains, including surgery, anatomy, and rehabilitation, the implementation of XR in mental health training, where nuanced humanistic interactions are central, has lagged. ObjectiveGiven the growing societal and health care service need for trained mental health and care workers, coupled with the heterogeneity of exposure during training and the shortage of placement opportunities, we explored the feasibility and utility of a novel XR tool for mental health consultation training. Specifically, we set out to evaluate a training simulation created through collaboration among software developers, clinicians, and learning technologists, in which users interact with a virtual patient, “Stacey,” through a virtual reality or augmented reality head-mounted display. The tool was designed to provide trainee health care professionals with an immersive experience of a consultation with a patient presenting with perinatal mental health symptoms. Users verbally interacted with the patient, and a human instructor selected responses from a repository of prerecorded voice-acted clips. MethodsIn a pilot experiment, we confirmed the face validity and usability of this platform for perinatal and primary care training with subject-matter experts. In our follow-up experiment, we delivered personalized 1-hour training sessions to 123 participants, comprising mental health nursing trainees, general practitioner doctors in training, and students in psychology and medicine. This phase involved a comprehensive evaluation focusing on usability, validity, and both cognitive and affective learning outcomes. ResultsWe found significant enhancements in learning metrics across all participant groups. Notably, there was a marked increase in understanding (P<.001) and motivation (P<.001), coupled with decreased anxiety related to mental health consultations (P<.001). There were also significant improvements to considerations toward careers in perinatal mental health (P<.001). ConclusionsOur findings show, for the first time, that XR can be used to provide an effective, standardized, and reproducible tool for trainees to develop their mental health consultation skills. We suggest that XR could provide a solution to overcoming the current resource challenges associated with equipping current and future health care professionals, which are likely to be exacerbated by workforce expansion plans.https://mededu.jmir.org/2025/1/e64619 |
| spellingShingle | Katherine Hiley Zanib Bi-Mohammad Luke Taylor Rebecca Burgess-Dawson Dominic Patterson Devon Puttick-Whiteman Christopher Gay Janette Hiscoe Chris Munsch Sally Richardson Mark Knowles-Lee Celia Beecham Neil Ralph Arunangsu Chatterjee Ryan Mathew Faisal Mushtaq Extended Reality–Enhanced Mental Health Consultation Training: Quantitative Evaluation Study JMIR Medical Education |
| title | Extended Reality–Enhanced Mental Health Consultation Training: Quantitative Evaluation Study |
| title_full | Extended Reality–Enhanced Mental Health Consultation Training: Quantitative Evaluation Study |
| title_fullStr | Extended Reality–Enhanced Mental Health Consultation Training: Quantitative Evaluation Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Extended Reality–Enhanced Mental Health Consultation Training: Quantitative Evaluation Study |
| title_short | Extended Reality–Enhanced Mental Health Consultation Training: Quantitative Evaluation Study |
| title_sort | extended reality enhanced mental health consultation training quantitative evaluation study |
| url | https://mededu.jmir.org/2025/1/e64619 |
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