Virtual Therapeutic Garden: A Promising Method Supporting the Treatment of Depressive Symptoms in Late-Life: A Randomized Pilot Study

Szczepańska-Gieracha, Joanna; Cieślik, Błażej; Serweta, Anna; Klajs, Krzysztof

doi:10.3390/jcm10091942

Cited by 41 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Liszio and Masuch (2019) designed two mini-games (throwing a coconut and flower watering) at a virtual beach and found that interactive VR elicited a higher sense of spatial presence and led to a higher heart rate variability level, indicating better physiological relaxation. Likewise, Szczepańska-Gieracha et al (2021) designed a 4-week VR treatment containing interactive games (simulated plant watering and a coloring task) and observed reduced depression in an elderly population, which brings a practical indication of using virtual nature to improve the health of this special population. However, another study using an active VR intervention failed to identify its advantage over a normal VR experience ( Tanja-Dijkstra et al, 2018 ).…”

Section: Interactive Virtual Reality Vs Non-interactive Virtual Realitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the current studies mainly aimed to explore the effects of virtual nature, without paying much attention to special populations. For instance, only two studies concerning our research questions focused on patients and the elderly ( Lakhani et al, 2020 ; Szczepańska-Gieracha et al, 2021 ). Therefore, future studies need to involve more special populations, such as people who are quarantined due to COVID-19, to explore more practical and useful interventions.…”

Section: Direction For Future Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Access to Nature via Virtual Reality: A Mini-Review

Zhang

Wang

et al. 2021

Front. Psychol.

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Nature exposure is known to promote physical and mental health. However, actual nature exposure may be difficult to achieve for the population of people with physical disabilities or chronic conditions. Therefore, many attempts have been made to duplicate nature exposure via media devices, and virtual reality (VR) is deemed as a promising technology due to its advantage in creating a sense of immersion. Generally, current studies suggest that being exposed to virtual nature may contribute to psychological and physiological relaxation. Besides, some pieces of evidence indicate that virtual nature may improve attentional resources, cognitive performance, and pain experience. Although VR is deemed as an advanced media, insufficient evidence was found concerning the advantages of VR over traditional two-dimensional media when it comes to simulated nature exposure. On the other hand, computer-generated (CG) scenarios were found to be more beneficial than 360° videos, and mini-games may be useful in creating an interactive VR format for simulated nature exposure. Further research is needed because of the limited relevant studies.

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Section: Interactive Virtual Reality Vs Non-interactive Virtual Realitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Direction For Future Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Access to Nature via Virtual Reality: A Mini-Review

Zhang

Wang

et al. 2021

Front. Psychol.

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“…VR interventions have been used by psychologists, pediatricians, neurologists and physiotherapists [ 23 , 24 ]. According to research, in the treatment of depression, it may be effective to transfer the patient to a virtual world [ 25 , 26 ]. Thanks to immersion, the affected patient can, at least for a moment, forget about the problems of everyday life and move to a place filled with peace and positive energy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual Reality Interventions for Needle-Related Procedural Pain, Fear and Anxiety—A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Czech

Wrzeciono

Rutkowska

et al. 2021

JCM

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Needle-related procedures are often a source of pain, anxiety and fear in young patients. This systematic review aimed to investigate the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR) on reducing pain, fear and anxiety in pediatric patients undergoing needle-related procedures. Pain, anxiety, fear, changes in blood pressure and heart rate as well as satisfaction were evaluated as outcomes during needle-related procedures in VR compared with standard care conditions. A meta-analysis was performed, taking into account online databases. Two authors independently conducted literature searches in December 2020. The last search was conducted in March 2021 from a total of 106 records, 7 met our inclusion criteria. One study was excluded from the meta-analysis due to insufficient data. VR was applied as a distractor during venous access. Statistically significant benefits of using VR were shown in children’s pain scores, where VR significantly decreased symptoms (n = 3204 patients, MD = −2.85; 95% CI −3.57, −2.14, for the Wong–Baker Faces Pain Rating Scale and n = 2240 patients, MD = −0.19; 95% CI −0.58, 0.20, for the Faces Pain Scale—Revised). The analysis of fear, anxiety and satisfaction scores revealed no significant differences between the conditions, as the studies were too heterogeneous to be pooled. Distraction using virtual reality may be an effective intervention for reducing pain in children undergoing needle-related medical procedures. However, further research in the implementation of VR as a distractor for children and adolescents is required, due to the limited research into this field.

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“…The VR TierOne medical device was developed under a grant received from the National Centre of Research and Development (NCRD). The therapeutic method was described in earlier publications [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Use of Virtual Therapy in Cardiac Rehabilitation of Female Patients with Heart Disease

Jóźwik

Cieślik

Gajda³

et al. 2021

Medicina

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Background and Objectives: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) has become increasingly prevalent in women, and it is also in this group that the risk of developing depression is the highest. The most commonly applied therapeutic intervention in cardiac rehabilitation is Schultz’s autogenic training, which has proven to be of little efficacy in reducing depression and anxiety disorders. At the same time, a growing number of scientific reports have been looking at the use of virtual reality (VR) to treat mental health problems. This study aimed at assessing the efficacy of virtual therapy in reducing levels of depression, anxiety, and stress in female CVD patients. Materials and Methods: The study included 43 women who were randomly divided into two groups: experimental group (N = 17), where eight-week cardiac rehabilitation was enhanced with VR-based therapeutic sessions, and control group (N = 26), where the VR therapy was replaced with Schultz’s autogenic training. Mental state parameters were measured using the Perception of Stress Questionnaire and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Results: In the experimental group, the sole parameter which failed to improve was HADS-Anxiety, which remained at the baseline level. In the control group, there was a deterioration in nearly all tested parameters except for HADS-Depression. Statistically significant differences in the efficacy of rehabilitation were recorded in relation to the level of stress in the sub-scales: emotional tension (p = 0.005), external stress (p = 0.012), intrapsychic stress (p = 0.023) and the generalized stress scale (p = 0.004). Conclusions: VR therapy is an efficient and interesting complement to cardiac rehabilitation, with proven efficacy in reducing stress levels.

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Virtual Therapeutic Garden: A Promising Method Supporting the Treatment of Depressive Symptoms in Late-Life: A Randomized Pilot Study

Cited by 41 publications

References 52 publications

Access to Nature via Virtual Reality: A Mini-Review

Access to Nature via Virtual Reality: A Mini-Review

Virtual Reality Interventions for Needle-Related Procedural Pain, Fear and Anxiety—A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The Use of Virtual Therapy in Cardiac Rehabilitation of Female Patients with Heart Disease

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