Co-designing VR for Teenage Oncology
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Co-designing a Novel Virtual Reality Experience with Teenage and Young Adults with Cancer for use in the Oncology Pathway
IRAS ID
312897
Contact name
Kirsten Cater
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bristol
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Id nr.: 1868827, Sponsor reference Number
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 4 months, 1 days
Research summary
This study aims to co-design a virtual reality (VR) experience for teenagers and young adults with cancer. Young people (16-24) with cancer from the teenage cancer unit in Bristol (UHBW NHS trust) will be invited to engage in a series of co-design workshops to iteratively design and develop a VR experience for use in the oncology pathway. The young people will help identify an area of the pathway that may benefit from a virtual reality application and then work alongside researchers from the University of Bristol to co-design this application.
VR has shown great potential across healthcare with particular success in surgical training, psychotherapy, rehabilitation and as a distraction tool. More recently, VR has been used across different parts of the cancer pathway. This has included using VR to prepare children for scans and as a distraction tool during chemotherapy and painful procedures. There is currently very little research into the use of VR in teenage and young adult cancer. This study will bring young people with cancer and researchers from the University of Bristol together to conceptualise and co-design a novel VR app for use in teenage and young adult cancer. This study will also advance our understanding of the current challenges and opportunities for VR technology in oncology and highlight practical considerations necessary for the effective development and deployment of VR technology in the NHS.
REC name
London - Queen Square Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/PR/0365
Date of REC Opinion
24 May 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion