these publications trace a coherent arc: from prenatal monitoring, to labor itself, to anxiety management across pregnancy as a whole.
#SundayResearchDive – XR in WHO Digital Health Strategies: Visible in Images, Absent in Text
This week I want to step aside from the usual research summary to share a small paradox I found while reviewing WHO documents for my PhD work on XR adoption in healthcare. It says a lot about how immersive technologies are perceived today. The paradox in WHO strategies The WHO Guideline: Recommendations on Digital Interventions for Health System Strengthening (2019) … Read More
🧭 #SundayResearchDive – Virtual Reality Navigation for Early Alzheimer’s Detection
Most conditions with long silent phases, like Alzheimer’s disease (AD), are only detected late because we rely on subjective cognitive tests or biomarkers that are invasive, expensive, or not easily available in routine care. Could virtual reality help close this gap? This week’s study by Shima et al. (2025) tests whether a VR-based navigation task can serve as a non-invasive … Read More
#SundayResearchDive – Can XR Train the Brain in Chronic Pain?
Chronic pain is more than a sensory issue. It affects cognition in profound ways. This week’s review examines a newly published synthesis by Guerra-Armas et al. (2025), which explores an often-overlooked consequence of chronic pain: neurocognitive impairment. Deficits in attention, executive function, memory and body perception not only impact quality of life but also limit adherence to treatment and the … Read More
What Is the Future of Therapeutic VR and Why Does It Matter?
what is the future of therapeutic VR?
It’s a future in which immersive, evidence-based experiences are integrated into everyday care—prescribed by clinicians, trusted by institutions, reimbursed by payers, and embraced by patients. It’s a future that will depend not just on technology, but on structure, collaboration, and clinical leadership.
#SundayResearchDive: How Safe is XR for Children? A Practical Look at AMXRA’s 2025 Guidelines
👩⚕️ Virtual Reality (VR) is already being used in both clinical and educational contexts with young children, particularly for therapeutic distraction, neurodevelopmental interventions and immersive learning. These uses typically occur in supervised, controlled settings, but until now, guidance on safe and developmentally appropriate XR use in children has remained fragmented. 🛠️ Despite this growing body of applied research, hardware manufacturers … Read More
Transforming Mental Health Care: The Role of VR in a New Era of Mental Health Treatment by Dr Farah Shiraz
VRforHealth is proud to feature the original article of guest author, clinical psychologist and digital mental health expert Dr. Farah Shiraz who explores how virtual reality is transforming the treatment of conditions like anxiety, psychosis, and treatment-resistant hallucinations. From Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy to immersive avatar-based interventions, she highlights the power of VR to personalize care and expand access in the rapidly evolving field of therapeutic VR or VR therapies
#SundayResearchDive: Testing Virtual Reality in Preanesthetic Care – What We Learned Behind the Scenes
📍 Published in JMIR Extended Reality, our recent case series explores something simple yet complex: Can Virtual Reality (VR) be used in real-life clinical workflows before surgery, not as a study add-on, but as part of actual care? This #SundayResearchDive brings you the story behind the pilot: what worked, what we learned, and what we’ll change next. 🎥 Behind the … Read More
#SundayResearchDive: Can VR Help Standardize Cognitive Assessments?
Could Virtual Reality (VR) complement traditional cognitive assessments by offering more objective, standardized measurements? This week’s #SundayResearchDive explores a new study by Sorrentino et al. investigating VR as an objective assessment tool for cognitive functions, particularly distractor inhibition in stroke patients. The Study: Using VR for Cognitive Testing 📌 Researchers tested 30 participants (15 stroke survivors, 15 healthy controls) using … Read More
#SundayResearchDive: Breathing in the Future – Virtual Reality for COPD Rehabilitation
💨 Can virtual reality make it easier to breathe? Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a relentless condition that limits airflow and diminishes the quality of life for millions worldwide. Standard pulmonary rehabilitation programs emphasize breathing exercises to strengthen respiratory muscles and reduce dyspnea, but engagement and adherence remain critical challenges. This week, we explore a fascinating randomized controlled trial … Read More
