VR excursions take hospice patients to familiar places

Austria’s Red Cross in Upper Austria is offering virtual trips to familiar places for people with serious illnesses in day hospices, ORF reports. Staff at the St. Barbara hospices in Linz, Ried and Vöcklabruck are testing the technology until the end of the year.

Using virtual reality headsets, hospice guests can revisit places they are no longer able to reach on their own. The experiences are intended to bring back memories and encourage conversation. About 135 destinations are available, and hospice volunteers accompany guests. The headsets can be used while sitting or lying in bed, and relatives can join in.

“A guest at the day hospice was able to travel to Croatia again with the VR headset, where he had always spent his holidays. Two other guests explored Hallstatt together,” said Natascha Illig of the St. Barbara Hospice in Vöcklabruck.

The project, “Virtual Glimpses of Light: Humanity Meets Innovation,” is being carried out by the Center for Civil Society and VitaBlick. In the pilot, 90 percent of participants said they felt comfortable, while two-thirds rediscovered memories.

“The project has been very well received, and we have had consistently positive experiences in mobile hospice care,” said Andrea Hartinger, hospice coordinator in Ried. “For us, the focus is not on the technology, but on the person and the chance to offer a little quality of life, joy and time together.”