Palliative CareVR-SPCNCT07109050
Virtual Reality Within Palliative Care (VR-SPC)
A study testing VR Headset in people with Palliative Care and Virtual Reality, run by University of Lincoln at 1 site in United Kingdom.
Trial summary
Literature so far shows VR is largely acceptable and feasible to use in palliative care settings, especially for improving patient wellbeing and mental health. However, limited research exists for understanding the effectiveness of VR, especially if sessions are repeated or offered jointly with patient carers or… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Palliative Care, Virtual Reality, Wellbeing
- What is being tested?
- VR Headset
- Type of treatment
- Medical device
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 8 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited Kingdom
- Study dates
- 13 Aug 2025to 29 May 2026
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 years and older
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Participants recieving palliative care must be:
- Aged 18 or over (no upper age limit due to the service being lifelong).
- Patients deemed to be palliative, receiving specialist care at the designated hospice as either an inpatient or outpatient.
- Willing and able to engage in VR interventions as determined by the patients' usual care team.
- Able to consent to the research, as assessed by the clinical psychologist supporting recruitment and the primary researcher delivering the VR intervention.
- Participant companions (carers, relatives) must be:
Show all 9Show fewer
- Aged 18 or over (no upper age limit).
- Willing and able to engage in VR interventions and travel to the designated hospice site.
- Able to consent to the research, as assessed by the clinical psychologist supporting recruitment and the primary researcher delivering the VR intervention.
Who cannot join
- Lacking capacity to consent to take part in research as assessed by both the clinical psychologist supporting recruitment and the primary researcher delivering VR.
- Exhibiting contraindications as set out by care team including eyesight impairments or neurological conditions such as epilepsy or dementia.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
About this study
Official title: The Effectiveness of Virtual Reality Interventions Within Specialist Palliative Care (VR-SPC): A Hermeneutic Single Case Efficacy Design (HSCED) Series
Literature so far shows VR is largely acceptable and feasible to use in palliative care settings, especially for improving patient wellbeing and mental health. However, limited research exists for understanding the effectiveness of VR, especially if sessions are repeated or offered jointly with patient carers or companions. We aim to investigate the effectiveness of VR for achieving personally meaningful goals (including but not limited to relaxation, bucket-list activities, and improving wellbeing). This study will be offered to patients and their companions receiving palliative care at a hospice in England. Informed consent will be acquired after a participant information sheet has been shared with interested participants. Personal goals of VR use will be established at the start of the study with baseline mental health and wellbeing data collection. Up to 3 VR sessions will be offered.
Before and after each session patients will be asked to complete questionnaires to track wellbeing and progression towards intended goals for utilising VR. A change interview will occur between 1 to 4 weeks after the final VR session to discuss their overall experiences of VR and will include repeated follow up questionnaires. Participants that which to engage with a joint-VR intervention with their companion (referred to as participant companions for the purposes of this study), will also require informed consent and completion of questionnaires and interview attendance to be involved with this study.
Results will be gathered and analysed by creating anonymous individual rich case records and shared with a panel of independent psychologists to conclude whether or not, from our findings, virtual reality is effective for achieving personally important goals. Findings will be shared with the hospice involved and form a Doctoral Thesis based at the University of Lincoln.
Read the detailed description
Patients who are accessing palliative care have progressive or terminal illness. Patients may also have co-occurring mental health difficulties or reduced wellbeing. There is emerging evidence for psychological wellbeing benefits of non-pharmacological interventions in palliative care. Also it is important for patient's receiving palliative care to have autonomy, dignity and respect in the care they receive (see Ambitions for Palliative and End of Life Care: A national framework for local action 2021-2026). One way to achieve such ambitions and offer an intervention for wellbeing is that of Virtual Reality (VR), whereby an individual is immersed in a digital world by wearing a headset. Immersive experiences can provide patients with a sense of being somewhere new which they may not be able to physically reach due to a decline in health or mobility inline with their palliative needs (Altman et al., 2024).
This study adopts a hermeneutic single case efficacy design (HSCED)series, which involves creating case studies that track up to 6 participants taking part in a 4-week VR intervention. The intervention offered for the study will be psychologically informed in that VR experiences and purpose for the intervention use will be chosen by the patient inline with their own personally important and meaningful goals. By ensuring that choice of the VR intervention offered will promote self-determination in care (e.g. autonomy and relatedness). While also acknowledging patient companion's experiences if patients choose to use VR jointly with their family member or companion, patient companions would also be interviewed about their experience of using VR.
Mixed-methods data collection will occur including quantitative data (questionnaires, number of sessions, time spent wearing VR) and qualitative data (interviews will occur to understand participant experience of using VR). Overall, this study will add to current literature about the effectiveness of VR for patients in palliative care.
- Conditions
- Palliative Care, Virtual Reality, Wellbeing
- Being tested
- VR Headset
- Keywords
- virtual reality, palliative care
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
VR HeadsetDevice
Also called VR
VR will be offered on either an individual or joint-experience basis, whereby the participant(s) wear a VR headset with 360 degree views, to explore various VR experiences of their choice for up to 3 sessions on a weekly basis. Goals for using VR will be ascertained by completing the goal based measure with the patient who is accessing specialist palliative care. This will define the purpose of the VR intervention in future sessions. The participant will be shown a list of VR experience options so they are aware of these prior to the next session. Pre-VR and post-VR questionnaires will be completed.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Intervention - VR | Other | Participants will be offered a VR intervention, whereby they will decide what VR experience they would like to use, picked from a pre-set list. VR experiences will be picked inline with pre-determined goals set by participants in the initial session of the study. VR expereinces range from ocean views, city experiences, to animals. Receives: Device: VR Headset |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4; Kroeneke et al., 2009)
Depression and anxiety measure. 4 items. 4-point Likert Scale (0 = Not at all, 3 = Nearly every day). Wording of the question and options will be adapted for post-VR use to include 'how much are you feeling bothered by the following problems now?' along with options changed to 'not at all', 'a little bit', 'somewhat', 'a lot'. Higher scores indicate higher likelihood of depression and anxiety, whereby:
- None = 0-2
- Mild = 3-5
- Moderate = 6-8
- Severe = 9-12 On each subscale, a score of 3 or greater is considered positive for screening purposes.
Measured: Baseline, week 1, week 2, week 3, and at week 8 (follow up interview).
The Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Palliative (FACIT-Pal) 14 (FACIT PAL-14; Zeng et al., 2013).
Quality of life measure for palliative care patients. 14 items. 5-point Likert Scale (0 = Not at all, 5 = Very much). Higher score indicates a better quality of life.
Measured: Baseline and week 8 (follow up interview).
Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS; Bruera et al., 1991)
Assesses pain, tiredness, nausea, depression, anxiety, drowsiness, appetite, well-being, and shortness of breath. 10 items. Each symptom is rated on a scale of 0 (no symptom) to 10 (worst possible symptom). Higher scores indicate higher incidents and severity of symptoms.
Measured: Baseline and week 8 (follow up interview).
• Goal based outcome measures (GBO; Law & Jacob, 2015)
To set individual goals for interventions and track progress. Up to 3 goals set, and tracking on a scale from 0 to 10 how much an individual feels they are achieving their goal. Progress is monitored overtime.
Measured: Baseline, week 1, week 2, and week 3.
Change interview procedure based on the 'Change interview' (Elliot et al., 1999)
Interview to understand individual changes since VR intervention, as well as helpful and unhelpful aspects of an intervention, what has brought change. To be used as a guide and to inspire interviewer prompts.
Measured: Week 8 (follow up interview).
Secondary outcomes (2)
Non validated - Rating scale to assess subjective ratings of VR experience
How immersed into the VR experience did you feel on a scale of 1 to 10 where 0 = not immersed at all, 10 = fully immersed? The wording of this question may differ depending on the VR experience selected, such as "how much did you feel like you were swimming with the dolphins, with 1 being not at all, and 10 being like you were right there with the dolphins?" to aid understanding of the question
Measured: Week 1, week 2, and week 3.
Helpful Aspects of Therapy (HAT; Llewelyn, 1988)
To understand helpful and unhelpful aspects of an intervention. 7 items. Open-ended questions whereby participants describe in their own words the most helpful and unhelpful aspects of the session. Wording will be adapted for the purposes of this study to apply to VR sessions as opposed to 'therapy'.
Measured: Week 1, week 2, and week 3.
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted7 Aug 2025
- Study start13 Aug 2025
- Primary completion29 May 2026
- Study completion29 May 2026
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Palliative CareStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Supportive care
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 8 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- University of Lincoln
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07109050
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 349429
- Acronym
- VR-SPC
- Status last verified
- Sep 2025
- First submitted
- 21 Jul 2025
- Last updated
- 6 Jul 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No: To protect participant confidentiality due to sensitive nature of the palliative care setting.
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 6 Jul 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- The Effectiveness of Virtual Reality Interventions Within Specialist Palliative Care (VR-SPC): A Hermeneutic Single Case Efficacy Design (HSCED) Series
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07109050
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- VR-SPC / 349429
- Conditions
- Palliative Care, Virtual Reality, Wellbeing
- Keywords
- virtual reality, palliative care
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 8 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- University of LincolnUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- 13 Aug 2025 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 29 May 2026 (actual)
- Study completion
- 29 May 2026 (actual)
- First posted
- 7 Aug 2025 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
Literature so far shows VR is largely acceptable and feasible to use in palliative care settings, especially for improving patient wellbeing and mental health. However, limited research exists for understanding the effectiveness of VR, especially if sessions are repeated or offered jointly with patient carers or companions. We aim to investigate the effectiveness of VR for achieving personally meaningful goals (including but not limited to relaxation, bucket-list activities, and improving wellbeing). This study will be offered to patients and their companions receiving palliative care at a hospice in England. Informed consent will be acquired after a participant information sheet has been shared with interested participants. Personal goals of VR use will be established at the start of the study with baseline mental health and wellbeing data collection. Up to 3 VR sessions will be offered.
Before and after each session patients will be asked to complete questionnaires to track wellbeing and progression towards intended goals for utilising VR. A change interview will occur between 1 to 4 weeks after the final VR session to discuss their overall experiences of VR and will include repeated follow up questionnaires. Participants that which to engage with a joint-VR intervention with their companion (referred to as participant companions for the purposes of this study), will also require informed consent and completion of questionnaires and interview attendance to be involved with this study.
Results will be gathered and analysed by creating anonymous individual rich case records and shared with a panel of independent psychologists to conclude whether or not, from our findings, virtual reality is effective for achieving personally important goals. Findings will be shared with the hospice involved and form a Doctoral Thesis based at the University of Lincoln.
Detailed description
Patients who are accessing palliative care have progressive or terminal illness. Patients may also have co-occurring mental health difficulties or reduced wellbeing. There is emerging evidence for psychological wellbeing benefits of non-pharmacological interventions in palliative care. Also it is important for patient's receiving palliative care to have autonomy, dignity and respect in the care they receive (see Ambitions for Palliative and End of Life Care: A national framework for local action 2021-2026). One way to achieve such ambitions and offer an intervention for wellbeing is that of Virtual Reality (VR), whereby an individual is immersed in a digital world by wearing a headset. Immersive experiences can provide patients with a sense of being somewhere new which they may not be able to physically reach due to a decline in health or mobility inline with their palliative needs (Altman et al., 2024).
This study adopts a hermeneutic single case efficacy design (HSCED)series, which involves creating case studies that track up to 6 participants taking part in a 4-week VR intervention. The intervention offered for the study will be psychologically informed in that VR experiences and purpose for the intervention use will be chosen by the patient inline with their own personally important and meaningful goals. By ensuring that choice of the VR intervention offered will promote self-determination in care (e.g. autonomy and relatedness). While also acknowledging patient companion's experiences if patients choose to use VR jointly with their family member or companion, patient companions would also be interviewed about their experience of using VR.
Mixed-methods data collection will occur including quantitative data (questionnaires, number of sessions, time spent wearing VR) and qualitative data (interviews will occur to understand participant experience of using VR). Overall, this study will add to current literature about the effectiveness of VR for patients in palliative care.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Supportive care
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 1
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Intervention - VR | Other | Device: VR HeadsetParticipants will be offered a VR intervention, whereby they will decide what VR experience they would like to use, picked from a pre-set list. VR experiences will be picked inline with pre-determined goals set by participants in the initial session of the study. VR expereinces range from ocean views, city experiences, to animals. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (9 listed)
- Aged 18 or over (no upper age limit due to the service being lifelong).
- Patients deemed to be palliative, receiving specialist care at the designated hospice as either an inpatient or outpatient.
- Willing and able to engage in VR interventions as determined by the patients' usual care team.
- Able to consent to the research, as assessed by the clinical psychologist supporting recruitment and the primary researcher delivering the VR intervention.
- Aged 18 or over (no upper age limit).
Key exclusion criteria (2 listed)
- Lacking capacity to consent to take part in research as assessed by both the clinical psychologist supporting recruitment and the primary researcher delivering VR.
- Exhibiting contraindications as set out by care team including eyesight impairments or neurological conditions such as epilepsy or dementia.
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| VR HeadsetAlso: VRVR will be offered on either an individual or joint-experience basis, whereby the participant(s) wear a VR headset with 360 degree views, to explore various VR experiences of their choice for up to 3 sessions on a weekly basis. Goals for using VR will be ascertained by completing the goal based measure with the patient who is accessing specialist palliative care. This will define the purpose of the VR intervention in future sessions. The participant will be shown a list of VR experience options so they are aware of these prior to the next session. Pre-VR and post-VR questionnaires will be completed. | Device | Intervention - VR |
Primary outcome
Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4; Kroeneke et al., 2009)
Time frame: Baseline, week 1, week 2, week 3, and at week 8 (follow up interview).
Depression and anxiety measure. 4 items. 4-point Likert Scale (0 = Not at all, 3 = Nearly every day). Wording of the question and options will be adapted for post-VR use to include 'how much are you feeling bothered by the following problems now?' along with options changed to 'not at all', 'a little bit', 'somewhat', 'a lot'. Higher scores indicate higher likelihood of depression and anxiety, whereby: * None = 0-2 * Mild = 3-5 * Moderate = 6-8 * Severe = 9-12 On each subscale, a score of 3 or greater is considered positive for screening purposes.
The Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Palliative (FACIT-Pal) 14 (FACIT PAL-14; Zeng et al., 2013).
Time frame: Baseline and week 8 (follow up interview).
Quality of life measure for palliative care patients. 14 items. 5-point Likert Scale (0 = Not at all, 5 = Very much). Higher score indicates a better quality of life.
Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS; Bruera et al., 1991)
Time frame: Baseline and week 8 (follow up interview).
Assesses pain, tiredness, nausea, depression, anxiety, drowsiness, appetite, well-being, and shortness of breath. 10 items. Each symptom is rated on a scale of 0 (no symptom) to 10 (worst possible symptom). Higher scores indicate higher incidents and severity of symptoms.
• Goal based outcome measures (GBO; Law & Jacob, 2015)
Time frame: Baseline, week 1, week 2, and week 3.
To set individual goals for interventions and track progress. Up to 3 goals set, and tracking on a scale from 0 to 10 how much an individual feels they are achieving their goal. Progress is monitored overtime.
Change interview procedure based on the 'Change interview' (Elliot et al., 1999)
Time frame: Week 8 (follow up interview).
Interview to understand individual changes since VR intervention, as well as helpful and unhelpful aspects of an intervention, what has brought change. To be used as a guide and to inspire interviewer prompts.
2 secondary outcomes
Non validated - Rating scale to assess subjective ratings of VR experience
Time frame: Week 1, week 2, and week 3.
Helpful Aspects of Therapy (HAT; Llewelyn, 1988)
Time frame: Week 1, week 2, and week 3.
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 6 Jul 2026.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No. To protect participant confidentiality due to sensitive nature of the palliative care setting.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
The record lists no contact. Use the official record to reach the sponsor.
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing VR Headset in people with Palliative Care and Virtual Reality, run by University of Lincoln at 1 site in United Kingdom.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 9 inclusion and 2 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 6 Jul 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United Kingdom. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4; Kroeneke et al., 2009) (time frame: Baseline, week 1, week 2, week 3, and at week 8 (follow up interview).). The study lists 5 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 6 Jul 2026.