Virtual Reality Skills Training for Health Care Professionals in Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention

Abstract

Background: Educating physicians and other health care professionals about the identification and treatment of patients who drink more than recommended limits is an ongoing challenge.Methods: An educational randomized controlled trial was conducted to test the ability of a standalone training simulation to improve the clinical skills of health care professionals in alcohol screening and intervention. The "virtual reality simulation" combined video, voice recognition, and nonbranching logic to create an interactive environment that allowed trainees to encounter complex social cues and realistic interpersonal exchanges. The simulation included 707 questions and statements and 1207 simulated patient responses.Results: A sample of 102 health care professionals (10 physicians; 30 physician assistants or nurse practitioners; 36 medical students; 26 pharmacy, physican assistant, or nurse practitioner students) were randomly assigned to a no training group (n ‫؍‬ 51) or a computer-based virtual reality intervention (n ‫؍‬ 51). Professionals in both groups had similar pretest standardized patient alcohol screening skill scores: 53.2 (experimental) vs 54.4 (controls), 52.2 vs 53.7 alcohol brief intervention skills, and 42.9 vs 43.5 alcohol referral skills. After repeated practice with the simulation there were significant increases in the scores of the experimental group at 6 months after randomization compared with the control group for the screening (67.7 vs 58.1; P < .001) and brief intervention (58.3 vs 51.6; P < .04) scenarios.Conclusions: The technology tested in this trial is the first virtual reality simulation to demonstrate an increase in the alcohol screening and brief intervention skills of health care professionals.

The Use of Simulation to Teach Suicide Risk Assessment to Health Profession Trainees—Rationale, Methodology, and a Proof of Concept Demonstration with a Virtual Patient

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“…VPs may be particularly suitable for convergent learners who value technological applications of knowledge [23]. VPs have been shown to be beneficial in teaching various mental health-related topics and skills, for example, alcohol use screening and brief intervention [9], obtaining consent for antipsychotic prescriptions [10], or nursing care of distressed psychiatric patients [11]. Mental health field historically relied on live or videotaped patient interviews; thus, the adoption of VP technologies to teach and to assess competencies in mental health is slow.…”

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Fourth Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine Practice-based Research Theme Issue

“…Fleming et al 17 developed an exciting virtual reality simulation to improve alcohol screening and intervention clinical skills. The simulation combines video, voice recognition, and nonbranching logic to create an interactive environment that allows trainees to encounter complex social cues and realistic interpersonal exchanges.…”