Bodyswaps and SAGE Publishing launch Virtual Reality resource for Health and Social Care Training

VR experience demonstrates benefits of immersive learning for soft skills training in higher education

LONDON, December 1st, 2021
Bodyswaps is partnering with SAGE Publishing, a global academic publisher of books, journals, and a growing suite of library products and services, to launch a cutting-edge resource for health and social care training. The Mental Health Practitioner VR experience supports students in developing soft skills through an immersive virtual environment, representing a first step into a new generation of learning.

Covid-19 has increased interest in using immersive technology in course programming, especially for so-called “soft skills.’ The Mental Health Practitioner experience builds on SAGE’s extensive publishing programme in the fields of nursing, medicine, and health, tapping the potential of virtual and augmented reality to improve learning outcomes and support deep learning.

Bodyswaps and SAGE have been collaborating since 2019 to explore the use of VR for soft skills training in higher education. Following conversations with nursing educators, a gap in communication skills training for acute mental health situations was identified. This prompted Bodyswaps and SAGE to co-develop a 10-minute VR experience that offers students the chance to practise active listening and empathic communication skills in a safe virtual environment before seeing real patients

Using Bodyswaps’ distinctive learning approach, students interact with a virtual patient in their own words before swapping places with the patient to observe the interaction from their perspective. The students receive feedback – powered by artificial intelligence -- on indicators such as eye contact, body language, and whether key elements of the patient’s story had been covered. Feedback from pilot universities has been positive

The experience is available for Windows PC, mobile, and all major standalone VR headsets.