The future of virtual reality in palliative care

Virtual reality (VR) is no longer the preserve of computer gamers and sci-fi enthusiasts. Many businesses and industries are finding practical uses for advanced visual technology, and insurers are increasingly exploring the possibilities for risk assessment. For example, virtual reality can simulate real-world scenarios, helping insurers understand flood, fire and other risks in the property and casualty sector.

Medical use cases are also increasing. According to a recent report, the global virtual reality healthcare market was valued at USD 3 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow to USD 38 billion by 2032. VR can improve clinical precision and training, reduce the risk of medical malpractice claims, and enhance pain management and rehabilitation. One aspect of growing interest is VR’s potential as a creative resource for palliative care programmes.

Dr Linda Holding, a palliative care-trained doctor and co-founder of Alignd, confirms that VR could play an innovative role in cancer care programmes and for the private medical insurers that support them.

“Palliative care requires a multi-disciplinary team approach,” she says. “No single treatment or technique will cover all needs, and everyone’s experience of serious illness is different. A holistic, multifaceted strategy enables caregivers to meet individual needs and devise tailored packages to manage pain and other symptoms, and improve a patient’s quality of life.”

Holding says this approach is at the heart of Alignd, which partners with private medical insurers to provide optimal home-based palliative care for patients with advanced-stage or metastatic cancer.

“Any technology or technique that could alleviate suffering is a potential asset for palliative care and medical insurance,” says Holding. 

Holding says that traditional gaming equipment is being tested and refined for palliative care, to create a calming and distracting immersive experience rather than generating the high-energy interactive thrills often associated with VR.

As she explains, the quality of today’s VR systems enables you to move convincingly into three dimensions and experience any number and variety of alternative environments. At the same time, she adds, advances in VR technology mean systems are becoming smaller, cheaper and easier to use.

Describing the process, Holding says: “Patients wear motion-sensing headsets and, typically, navigate with handheld controls. Using VR hardware and software, you can enter and interact with a 360-degree virtual world. And if you can transport a patient to another world, a more soothing and emotionally pleasing place, it can help to distract from pain and anxiety, or the depression that often accompanies serious illness.”

So, what might this virtual world look like? Holding offers some examples of VR experiences that can have therapeutic value: “The important thing is to take patients out of their present situation and offer uplifting experiences that distract from pain and other negative signals. Personalisation and wish-fulfilment will enhance the effect. For example, you could visit a place you’ve longed to see in the flesh, such as the Grand Canyon, but are unable to do so now. Or perhaps you want to swim with dolphins or revisit a favourite beach or other familiar place that has an emotional attachment. With VR, bucket list items are attainable.”

Holding says there is a growing body of applied research in this field. In particular, she cites ground-breaking R&D programmes undertaken by the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, notably a randomised trial in 2019. This revealed that ‘VR significantly reduces pain’ versus the control group in hospitalised patients with severe pain.

Holding also references recent research reported by Cancer Today: “A study in 2024 of 128 hospitalised cancer patients revealed a reduction in pain after one VR session where they experienced soothing landscapes. And the patients still felt the benefits 24 hours later.” 

While these research findings are encouraging, Holding says it’s early days for an evidence-based role for VR in palliative care. However, as the therapeutic benefits become clearer and the technology improves, she can envisage VR as an addition to palliative practices and life and health insurance programmes.

“Opioids and other analgesics are certainly not the only solution to relieve pain,” concludes Holding. “VR could be an innovative drug-free addition to conventional pain management in palliative care.”