ArticleBMJ open2023
Patient experience of a virtual reality calm room in a psychiatric inpatient care setting in Sweden: a qualitative study with inpatients.
Article in BMJ open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Analyzing metaverse-based digital therapies, their effectiveness, and potential risks in mental healthcare.Scientific reports · 2025Pooled it
- The use and effect of virtual reality as a non-pharmacological intervention for behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Age and ageing · 2025Pooled it
- Immersive Technologies in Forensic Mental Health and Prison Settings: Scoping Review.JMIR mental health · 2026Article
- Effects of Virtual Nature Embodiment on Compassion, Empathy, Nature Connectedness, and Symptom Burden in Patients With Psychosis or Depression: An Explorative Clinical Study.JMIR serious games · 2026Article
- The Role of Temporality in Virtual Reality Interventions for Depressive Episodes-A Scoping Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Patients' experiences with using virtual reality for comfort during source isolation: a qualitative feasibility study.Patient related outcome measures · 2026Article
- Assessing Patient Acceptance of Being Offered a Virtual Calm Room in Psychiatric Inpatient Care: Mixed Methods Study.JMIR formative research · 2025Article
- Exploring the Barriers to and Facilitators of Using Virtual Reality Relaxation for Patients With Psychiatric Problems: Qualitative Focus Group Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- SafeVRwards: Designing a complementary virtual reality module to the Safewards framework intended to relax and manage conflict in mental health wards.BMJ open quality · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveCalm rooms have been developed and implemented in psychiatric inpatient care settings to offer patients a dedicated space for relaxation in a convenient and safe environment. Recent technology developments have enabled virtual reality (VR) equivalents of calm rooms that can be feasibly deployed in psychiatric care settings. While research has shown VR environments to be efficacious in inducing relaxation, little is known how these virtual calm rooms are perceived by patients. The aim of this study was to elucidate patient experiences of using a VR calm room in a psychiatric inpatient setting.
designQualitative interview study. Semi-structured interviews were analysed using qualitive inductive content analysis, which focuses on the interpretation of texts for making replicable and valid inferences.
settingSwedish hospital psychiatric inpatient care setting with a wireless, three degrees-of-freedom VR head-mounted display running a calm room application simulating nature environment.
participants20 adult patients (12 women) with bipolar disorder (n=18) or unipolar depression (n=2).
resultsParticipants experienced the use of the VR calm room as having a positive impact on them, inducing awareness, calmness and well-being. They were thankful to be offered a non-pharmacological alternative for anxiety relief. Participants also expressed that they had some concerns about how they would react emotionally before using the VR device. However, after use, they highlighted that their overall experience was positive. They also expressed that they could see potential for further development of VR technology in psychiatric care.
conclusionsVR technology has the potential to solve pressing logistic issues in offering calm rooms in psychiatric inpatient care. VR calm rooms appear to be appreciated by psychiatric inpatients, who value their accessibility, convenience and variety of modalities offered. Participants perceived an increase in their well-being after use.
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