Page 12 - Christiana Care Focus June July 2018

Virtual reality
makes chemo more bearable
On the days when Blonnie Brooks comes to the Infusion Center for chemotherapy, she would rather be almost anyplace else. Now, thanks to an innovative new virtual reality (VR) tool introduced at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute, Brooks can at least imagine herself elsewhere, walking through a forest, climbing sand dunes at the beach, or perhaps gazing down a cliff into the Irish Sea.
“When I tried on the goggles, I really
did feel as though I had left my therapy chair,” Brooks said. Her assignments as a photographer and filmmaker often take her to faraway places, but she acknowledges that the virtual reality experience has been a novel way to visit places still on her bucket list.
“Imagine what these virtual reality experiences could mean for someone who may not have the means or ability to travel in real life,” Brooks said. “I really love the people I’ve met at the Infusion Center, but sometimes I am glad to get away.”
The Graham Cancer Center team partnered with the Christiana Care Health and Technology Innovation Center and Visitor
& Volunteer Services to develop a virtual reality experience for patients who wanted to give it a try.
“The virtual reality project is a great example of teamwork at its best,” said Nicholas J. Petrelli, M.D., Bank of America endowed medical director at the Graham Cancer Center. “Working with our partners at the Innovation Center and Volunteer Services, our Cancer Center team has captured the excitement of this new
technology to respond to a patient need. Their collaboration has resulted in a highly innovative approach to improving the chemotherapy experience for many of our cancer patients.”
Originally designed for the gaming industry, virtual reality technology is increasingly making its way into hospitals and procedure rooms.
Medical experts are finding that VR positive distraction therapy can be useful in a variety of settings, to instill a sense of well being, reduce anxiety, and shift focus from medical treatment or painful procedures.
10 CHRISTIANA CARE HEALTH SYSTEM
Chemotherapy patient Blonnie Brooks enjoys a virtual reality journey at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute.