Medical & Psychological Sites in Second Life:

Mind, Body & SpiritElisabeth JacobsenLibrary Director, Trinitas Hospital Elizabeth, New Jersey

ILC Monterey, California Oct 30, 2007

Clinical Education & Training in SL…

Virtual Training Hospitals

* Ann Myers Medical Ctr

•College of Radiology & Allied Health

Why?

• Immersive environment

• Interactive: voice/chat

• Networking: global

• Safe patient simulations

• Recreates RL w/o limits

• Scripted

• Unscripted

Who?

* Attendings

* Residents

* Interns

* Students

* Nurses

* Allied Health

What do they do?

• Case presentations

• Class discussions

• Patient scenarios

• Continuing Education

Exploring Virtual Applications

•Benefits:

– international collaboration

– potential real life patient - doctor interaction– unrestricted by real life limitations– encourages thinking “out of the box”

Drawbacks:

•Unreliable internet connections

•Unpredictable problems in-world:

* Griefing• lag• rolling startups • SL bugs

A day in the life of a virtual doctor…

College of Allied Health & Sciences

• hands-on learning with interactive exhibits

• online classes – CE– Certification

• variety of classes offered– phlebotomy class, lectures & labs– EKG readings & labs– chemistry labs– biology labs

Traditional and non-traditional tools for learning

The Imperial College of London’s Virtual Hospital

Marketing Strategy: from RL to SL to RL

* Promotional

* Limited CH education

* Limited development

* Links to RL

* Showcase

Target Training & Education

The Virtual Neurological Education Ctr

VNEC•Educational tools

•Interactive simulations

• Consumer Health

• Professional

• Referring links

• Free

VNEC Interactive Motor Simulations

Information in a box…

Emergency Preparedness Training in SL: Play2Train

• Interactive role playing designed to support:

– Incident Command System

– Tabletop exercises

– Emergency Services

– Simple Triage training

– Risk Communication

Dioramas: full scale replicas for scenario training•Pandemics: Influenza• Natural Disasters• Bioterrorism

– practice preparedness & response– Quarantine training

• mobile care facilities• triage• treatment•Audience:

–Clinical– Police, Fire, EMS– Administration– Local & State officials– business leaders– community

Recognizing the importance of research…

• Play2Train’s Interactive Medical Library

Custom design Learning: Hyperstring

• Designers for hire

• State of the art virtual classrooms

• Closed learning environment

• Limited only by imagination • and $$$

Health Info Island: A growing mission and vision

• Consumer Health information• Education• Clinical research• Reference links• CME• Directory of research/education groups in SL• Experiment & develop new ways of interaction & communication

The Virtual Medical Library

• Designed by Librarians

– Consumer Health

– Professionals

– Partnerships: NLM & NIH

– Not staffed• Chatbot• QuestionPoint

Leading to Water: links to information…

Psychological Support in SL

What is Cybertherapy?

• Defined as the use of computer technology to provide mental health services

• Different than traditional therapy– Utilizes new forms of communication

» Internet: email, webcam» Phone

• Avatar therapy– Use of avatar to explore issues

» Gender identification, Phobias, Disability, » Addictions, Social isolation and more…

Virtual Mental Health Services

** Advantages:

–Anonymous if desired

–Provides for those who are ill, do not have a car or can’t drive

– simulates traditional face-to-face therapy through avatars

** Disadvantages:

- internet connection woes

- time zones

- lack of physical cues

- lack of inflection if not using voice communication

SL Mental Health Support: Discussion Groups, Individual Therapy

Professional Help for a fee or self-help for free

• Fee based Counseling The Centering Place Library: “notecard” books

At MD Kiosk: videos available for free or purchase. Learning about anxiety

Prepared with the help of Brielle Coronet