scholarly journals Combined Use of Virtual Reality and a Chatbot Reduces Emotional Stress More Than Using Them Separately

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (12) ◽  
pp. 1371-1389
Author(s):  
Atsuko Matsumoto ◽  
Takeshi Kamita ◽  
Yukari Tawaratsumida ◽  
Ayako Nakamura ◽  
Harumi Fukuchimoto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Emotional Stress ◽  
Stress Reduction ◽  
Self Care ◽  
Care Process ◽  
Emotional Labour ◽  
Combined Use ◽  
Reduction Effect

In recent years, various organizations, such as companies and governments, have been required to take measures for the mental health of their employees, and the importance of self-care for mental health by employees themselves has been increasing, as well as being supported by administrators, such as doctors and workplace managers. As a means of self-care of mental health that can be implemented by busy professionals during their workdays and daily lives, the Digital-SAT method has been developed to implement the stress-care process of the SAT method, a psychological counseling technique for resolving psychological stress problems, in a self-guided manner using digital media. To realize the Digital-SAT method, two issues need to be addressed: first, to obtain the same emotional stress reduction effect as the SAT method and, second, to ensure the continuous implementation of the Digital-SAT method. Previous studies have shown that applications (apps) using virtual reality are effective in solving the former issue, and an app using a chatbot can be effective in solving the latter. In this research, an intervention study was conducted to verify the effectiveness of combined use of the two apps to encourage continuous use, resulting in increased emotional stress reduction, with the aim of making it feasible in actual work environments. An intervention of four weeks of app use was conducted with 70 nurses working in two hospitals where measures for mental health due to emotional labour and overwork were required. The emotional stress reduction effects of the intervention were evaluated using psychological scales and blood pressure levels, and it was confirmed that combined use of apps was more effective than using them separately to practice the Digital-SAT method in an actual work environment.

scholarly journals Freely Available Virtual Reality Experiences as Tools to Support Mental Health Therapy: a Systematic Scoping Review and Consensus Based Interdisciplinary Analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Best ◽  
Matilde Meireles ◽  
Franziska Schroeder ◽  
Lorna Montgomery ◽  
Alan Maddock ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Stress Reduction ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Therapeutic Potential ◽  
Behavioural Therapy ◽  
Therapeutic Interventions ◽  
Health Practitioner ◽  
Case Formulation ◽  
Therapeutic Value

AbstractThe primary purpose of this article is to review the potential therapeutic value of freely available VR content as an addition to the practitioners ‘toolkit’. Research has shown that virtual reality (VR) may be useful to extend existing guided imagery-based practices found in traditional mental health therapy. However, the use of VR technology within routine mental health practice remains low, despite recent reductions in equipment costs. A systematic scoping review and interdisciplinary analysis of freely available VR experiences was performed across two popular online databases (SteamVR and Oculus.com). A total of 1785 experiences were retrieved and screened for relevance with 46 meeting the inclusion criteria. VR content was then reviewed for potential therapeutic value by an interdisciplinary panel with experience across a number of therapeutic interventions including cognitive behavioural therapy, Rogerian counselling, mindfulness-based therapies. and family therapy. Eleven (22%) of the 50 freely available VR experiences were reported to have therapeutic potential as tools to support routine mental health therapy. These included support with the following mental health issues—low mood, social anxiety, stress reduction and fear of heights. Guidance of a qualified mental health practitioner was recommended in all cases to maximise the benefit of the VR experiences retrieved. While the quality is variable, freely available VR experiences may contain valuable content that could support mental health therapy. This includes as a homework activity or as an initial setting for case formulation and behavioural experiments.

Health and Wellness for In-Service and Future Music Teachers: Developing a Self-Care Plan

2019 ◽  
Vol 105 (4) ◽  
pp. 52-58
Author(s):  
Christa Kuebel
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Stress Reduction ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Self Care ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Care Plan ◽  
Health And Wellness ◽  
Teachers Experiences

Researchers have published an increasing number of reports about undergraduate music students suffering from depression, anxiety, and stress as well as of in-service teachers’ experiences with burnout. Whether an undergraduate music student, a teacher, or a teacher educator, those in our profession need to increase awareness of the prevalence of stress and mental health concerns in music education. Along with presenting information to increase mental health literacy, this article discusses the use of self-care as a form of stress reduction among current and future music educators.

The Stress Reduction Effect of Nature Through Virtual Reality (VR): a Systematic Review Protocol

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ambra Gentile ◽  
Antonino Bianco ◽  
Peter Nordström ◽  
Anna Nordström
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Stress Reduction ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Clinical Population ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Systematic Review Protocol ◽  
Review Protocol ◽  
Reduction Effect

Abstract Background. The urbanization process has increased the stress level among the population, since the city is an environment characterised by pollution, traffic, and noise. Spending time in natural and green spaces revealed to be restorative and effective in stress reduction. In some conditions, it is not possible to reach green spaces, such as country or gardens. In the last years, virtual reality (VR) has been adopted in laboratories to explore the potentialities for stress reduction. Therefore, the current systematic review protocol aims at establishing the main steps that will be undertaken to investigate the stress-reduction effects of virtual nature studies. Methods. The study will follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement, while the inclusion criteria will be established through PICOS (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, Study Design). The studies will be included if based on non-clinical population; if they compare the exposure to virtual nature through 360° images, biophilic elements, VR pre-recorded videos, or immersive environment, excluding the augmented reality; if they measure the outcome in terms of objective measures (through physical parameters) or subjective measures (e.g., self-report questionnaires); and if they report quantitative outcomes, from scientific journals and indexed conference papers. The studies will be obtained through a research on Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed. All the study characteristics will be summarised in a spreadsheet and a narrative synthesis including also tables will be presented. Discussion. The current manuscript aims to provide the protocol that will be used in the systematic review concerning the stress reduction effect of virtual nature. Systematic review registration. PROSPERO CRD42020213197.

scholarly journals A Chatbot System for Mental Healthcare Based on SAT Counseling Method

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takeshi Kamita ◽  
Tatsuya Ito ◽  
Atsuko Matsumoto ◽  
Tsunetsugu Munakata ◽  
Tomoo Inoue
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Stress Reduction ◽  
Health Management ◽  
Mental Healthcare ◽  
Repeated Use ◽  
Effects Of Stress ◽  
Reduction Effect ◽  
Mental Wellness ◽  
User Motivation

In recent years, mental health management of employees in companies has become increasingly important. As the number of psychotherapists is not enough, it is necessary for employees to be able to keep their mental wellness on their own. A self-guided mental healthcare course using VR devices has been developed, and its stress reduction effect has been validated previously. This study proposes a new version of the course using smartphones and chatbots to enhance its convenience for use and to maintain user motivation for daily and repeated use. The effects of stress reduction and motivation maintenance were acknowledged.

Psychotherapeutic components of commercially available virtual reality games (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Almira Osmanovic Thunström ◽  
Iris Sarajlic Vuković ◽  
Lilas Ali ◽  
Tomas Larson ◽  
Steinn Steingrimsson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Treatment Strategies ◽  
Treatment Method ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
E Learning ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Unique Games

BACKGROUND Immersive virtual reality (VR) games are increasingly becoming part of everyday life. Several studies support immersive VR technology as a treatment method for mental health problems. There is however minimal research into the feasibility, prevalence, and quality of commercially available VR games on commercial platforms as tools for treatment or add on to treatment of mental health problems. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to explore the prevalence, feasibility and quality of commercially available games related to psychotherapy on a commercially available platform. METHODS We performed a search for keywords related to diagnosis and treatment strategies of mental health problems. The search was performed during March 27th on STEAM (VR content and gaming platform). A usability scale was used as a tool to look at the interaction and usability of the games, the VR-UI-UX-8. The tool contains 8 statements about usability scored 0-10, 0 indicating “Not at all” and 10 indicating “very much so”. The score ranges from 0-80 with a higher score indicating worse usability. RESULTS In total, 516 hits were found, 371 unique games. After the games were reviewed, 83 games passed the inclusion criteria, were purchased and played. Majority of the games which were excluded were either not connected to mental health, contained violence, adult content or were in other ways irrelevant or inappropriate. The mean score for the games on the VR-UI-UX-8 was 16.5 (standard deviation 15.8) with a range from 0-68. Most relevant and feasible games were found in the search words meditation, mindfulness, and LSD. CONCLUSIONS Commercial platforms hold great potential for VR games with psychotherapeutic components. The platforms are only at the beginning of the development towards serious games, e-learning and psychotherapeutic treatments. Currently the quality and usability for clinical and at home applicability are scarce, but hold great potential.

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