A Virtual Reality Relaxation Intervention for Clinical Staff

Plain-language summary

Clinical staff working in mental health services experience high levels of work-related stress, burnout and poor wellbeing. They may work long hours, experience stress directly related to the emotional demands of the role and clinical responsibility, experience physical and psychological burnout and may experience high rates of workplace violence. Poorer wellbeing and high burnout amongst mental health staff has been associated with poorer quality of patient care, higher absenteeism, higher turnover rates, and low morale. Virtual reality (VR) relaxation is a technique whereby experiences of pleasant/ calming environments are accessed via a head mounted display to promote relaxation. The use of VR relaxation facilities in the workplace may provide a pragmatic approach to enabling employees to de-stress, relax and optimise their mental wellbeing and may reduce turnover and improve stress related sick leave across the National Health Service (NHS) workforce. The research will involve a pre-post-test of 5-weeks of VR relaxation for clinical staff working in mental health settings, including those working in inpatient settings and community teams. The pre-post-test will act as a feasibility trial, the primary aim is thereby to determine whether VR relaxation is feasible and acceptable amongst mental health staff. This feasibility study will evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a 5-week course of weekly 20-minute sessions of VR relaxation for clinical staff. Feasibility and acceptability measures will be collected and summarised at the end of the trial, including percentage of those recruited who consent to take part, completion and drop-out rates, adverse events, and satisfaction with sessions. The secondary objective is to investigate the impact of the VR relaxation intervention on potential outcome measures for a randomised controlled trial (RCT), including perceived psychological stress, worry, psychological burnout, sleep quality and anxiety. The results from this study will inform a later trial by providing key parameters including recruitment, retention, acceptability, and adherence to the treatment protocol. Additionally, follow-up qualitative interviews will be conducted with staff who engaged in the VR and staff who withdrew, to develop an understanding of attitudes towards the VR relaxation intervention.

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