The story of VR Therapies - part 3: The dream becomes reality
In the final part of a three-part story, Rebecca Gill (founder and CEO of the Northampton-based social enterprise VR Therapies) brings us up to date on their current work and plans for the future.
I'd worked all my life in Northampton as a learning disability nurse. I know the services. I know the patients. I've built those relationships over years so I can easily walk in and say to someone "Hey girl, how's it going!"
One of the first people who used the VR was someone called Jo. She has learning disabilities and cerebral palsy. She's fully reliant on staff for all aspects of her life, including eating and drinking.
Jo wanted to go on a rollercoaster in VR. I had been looking more at therapies like physio, rehabilitation and mental health. I hadn't immediately been looking at the entertainment side of it.
But that's what Jo was most excited about. She told me that going on a rollercoaster was on her bucket list. She'd always wanted to do it but had never been able to because her physical condition meant it wouldn't have been safe. There are so many restrictions on her life and what she can do.
Through VR, she was able to experience going on a rollercoaster and she loved it. Her reaction was amazing. She was laughing her head off. I'd never seen a smile so big. When I was working as a nurse, we were constantly trying to help Jo manage her pain. After the VR, she didn't complain about pain for the rest of the day. It had an immediate positive impact on her and that's what I've found with everyone - the benefits are so clear.
Our main message is that we’re open for people to come and enjoy themselves and put a smile on their face. It's been frustrating not being able to open our doors because of the pandemic. Now we want to get the message out there that we're open and people can come and benefit from VR therapy.
Everything is made fully accessible - regardless of age, ability or any health conditions. Or if you just want to come and have fun - you can paint with stars and make beautiful art, you can shoot zombies - we just want people to smile again which, as we all know, is really important given what everyone's been through in the past couple of years.
We've got a lot of projects in the pipeline. We've started working with Spring social prescribing so you can access our services through that now, and we've started working on apps.
We're talking with local and national NHS foundation trusts about bringing virtual reality to people in hospitals. We want everyone to benefit from the magic of VR, even if that means bringing it to you as a child in a hospital bed.
Having fun and play therapy can make a big difference to health and recovery. And we want to tick off more bucket lists for people in palliative care - you can escape the trauma of what you're going through and experience something amazing.