CORNWALL, Ontario – Carefor Hospice Cornwall is introducing virtual reality (VR as a part of the care service offered to their patients.
Hospice Cornwall has received two VR headsets through Wishplay, a charitable organization that is dedicated to using VR to improve health and end-of-life care.
“Our mission at Wishplay is to develop simple and easy to use solutions to allow patients to live beyond the limitations of their illness or disability,” the Wishplay mission statement reads.
Hospice Cornwall hopes that the VR headsets will help their patients get new experiences outside the confines of their room and their illness, as well as allowing them to participate with their families and friends in ways that they otherwise would not.
“If a person always wanted to travel or participate in an activity, this is a good way to do that,” said Shannon Ball if Hospice Cornwall. “If a resident can’t go to a family event like a wedding, we can go with a video camera and film it and they can relive it through the headset as if they were actually there.”
Belinda McGillvray, a Hospice community client said that she was impressed with the technology after she tried it out.
“It is really really interesting,” she said. “It’s like you’re really there. It might help patients a lot with depression.”
