Tandem VR: Synchronized Nature-Based Experiences in Virtual Reality for Hospice Patients and Their Caregivers

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Hospice, End of Life, Palliative Care, Pain, Anxiety, Fear of Death

In brief

Background: Nature-based virtual reality (VR) and other outdoor experiences in head-mounted displays (HMDs) offer powerful, non-pharmacological tools for hospice teams to help patients undergoing end-of-life (EOL) transitions. However, the psychological distress of the patient-caregiver dyad is interconnected and highlights the interdependence and responsiveness to distress as a unit. Hospice care services and healthcare need strategies to help patients and informal caregivers with EOL transitions.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT06186960

Run by

Prisma Health-Upstate

People needed

26

Starts

2024-03-01

Expected to finish

2025-04-30

Last updated by the study team

2026-04-06

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• English speaking
• Projected life expectancy of <6 months (established by hospice experts)
• Cognitively intact (has sufficient judgment, planning, organization, and self-control)

You may not qualify if…

• Having a cognitive impairment that affects protocol participation. This will be done with the assistance of Research Recruiters to assess eligibility.
• Have a condition that interferes with VR usage, including but not limited to seizures, facial injury precluding safe placement of headset
• Have a prognosis of hours or actively dying at the time enrollment
• Patients with motion sickness
• Patients with claustrophobia
• Patients with visual and hearing impairment
• Patients with inability to speak English

Where it is running

• Cottingham Hospice House — Seneca, South Carolina, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

Trial information comes from ClinicalTrials.gov and is refreshed daily. TrialsForMe does not provide medical care and does not run the studies it lists.