Report: VR Enhancing Communication in Healthcare

Virtual Reality Enhances Patient Education and Effective Communication in Healthcare

Every healthcare system must have well trained medical professionals who have competence and expertise in their chosen field. However, what sets a successful healthcare system apart from the rest is effective communication. Communication between healthcare professional (especially frontline staff, such as nurses) and patients is a major predictor of the quality of the healthcare system. Effective communication is also the most important predictor of patient satisfaction.

Effective communication is complex and challenging in healthcare because in many cases a deep understanding of a challenge facing a patient would require the patient to have a strong medical background. This is rare. Instead, the goal for the healthcare professional is to give the patient enough information that they understand the basics, know what to expect, but most importantly provide that information in a way that builds a deep trust between the patient and the healthcare professional. It is this trust that builds confidence in patients and reduces anxiety and stress.

Trust develops when information is presented to patients in a way that they can understand and is communicated with genuine feeling and affect. As we will see shortly, people gain their best…