Virtual Travel Into Nature for Individuals With Lived Experience of Severe Mental Disorders

NCT06893393 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 2024-927
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 98
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of the (observational or clinical) trial is to assess the use of the virtual application Toujours Dimanche for individuals hospitalized in a psychiatric care unit. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• Is it feasible and acceptable for individuals currently hospitalized to use virtual reality during their stay?
• What are the effects on mental health of the virtual reality application in individuals hospitalized in psychiatric care?
• What are the barriers and facilitators of using the virtual reality application in a psychiatric ward from the perspective of service users and health care providers? Researchers will compare virtual reality users to control group (treatment as usual only) to see if the use of the application affects social and emotional well-being in the context of hospitalisation in psychiatry. In the first phase, participants will: \- Be invited to participate in focus groups to assess their interest in the application. In the second phase, participants will:
• Complete baseline questionnaires on their connection to nature and social and emotional well-being.
• Use the virtual reality application over a 15 day period alongside treatment as usual.
• Complete post-intervention questionnaires and a survey on their use and opinions of the application. Healthcare provider feedback phase \- Healthcare providers working on the unit will be invited to share their perception of the impact of implementing the virtual application on the unit through surveys which will be sent by email.

Conditions

Investigate the Use of Virtual Reality in Inpatient Psychiatric Care; Complex Mood Disorders

Keywords

implementation; virtual reality; inpatient psychiatric care; nature; virtual travels; complex mood disorders

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (7)

• Perceived Stress Scale

  The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), a 10-item self-report questionnaire assessing subjective stress using a Likert scale from 1 (never) to 5 (very often) (Cohen \& Williamson, 1988). For the current study, the questionnaire will be modified to adjust the timeframe for the assessment of perceived stress from one moth to two weeks.

  Change from baseline (15 days post)

• Kessler Psychological Distress Scale

  The Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) (Kessler et al., 2002) is a 10-item self-report questionnaire assessing distress through questions about anxiety and depression. The 10 items are rated on a Likert scale ranging from 1 (None of the time) to 5 (All the time).

  Change from baseline (15 days post)

• Beck Anxiety Scale

  The Beck Anxiety Scale (BAI; (Beck et al., 1988)) is a self-report questionnaire that includes 21 items rated on a Likert scale of 0 (not at all) to 3 (Severely).

  Change from baseline (15 days post)

• The connectedness to nature scale

  The connectedness to nature scale (CNS) (Mayer \& Frantz, 2004) is a 14 self-report item questionnaire that assesses individuals' trait levels of feeling emotionally connected to the natural world.

  Change from baseline (15 days post)

• PHQ-9

  Depressive symptoms will be assessed using the PHQ-9. This 9-item self-report questionnaire assesses depressive symptoms in the last two weeks, rated on a Likert scale ranging from 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly every day)

  Change from baseline (15 days post)

• Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale

  Wellbeing will be assessed with the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS), a 14-item self-report questionnaire using a Likert scale from 1 (never) to 5 (all the time).

  Change from baseline (15 days post)

• De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale - short version

  Social isolation will be assessed with the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale - short version (DJGLS). This 6-item self-report questionnaire assess overall, emotional, and social loneliness using a Likert scale ranging from 0 (not lonely) to 11 (extremely lonely).

  Change from baseline (15 days post)

Study Arms (2)

Toujours Dimanche users

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants who will use the virtual reality application Toujours Dimanche in the context of their hospitalization in psychiatric care. Participants will receive treatment as usual and will be able to use the application at their leisure for a period of 15 days.

Device: Virtual travel-into-nature application Toujours Dimanche

Control group

NO INTERVENTION

Participants will not use the virtual reality application Toujours Dimanche. Will receive treatment as usual.

Interventions

Virtual travel-into-nature application Toujours Dimanche DEVICE

The use of the virtual travel-into-nature application which features real natural environments from the Eastern Canada area.

Toujours Dimanche users

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Being 18 years old or older
• Being hospitalized in a psychiatric unit at the time of the study
• Being relatively clinically stable, according to the treating psychiatrist
• Being free of uncorrected visual impairments
• Being able to speak or read French or English

You may not qualify if:

• Current photosensitive epilepsy or a history of seizures
• Previous history of severe motion sickness or cyber-sickness

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Douglas Mental Health University Institute: lead
• Super Sublime | Super Splendide: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Douglas Mental Health University Institute

Montreal, Quebec, H4H 1R3, Canada

Location

Related Publications (3)

• Tennant R, Hiller L, Fishwick R, Platt S, Joseph S, Weich S, Parkinson J, Secker J, Stewart-Brown S. The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS): development and UK validation. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2007 Nov 27;5:63. doi: 10.1186/1477-7525-5-63.

  PMID: 18042300 BACKGROUND

• Gierveld JDJ, Tilburg TV. A 6-Item Scale for Overall, Emotional, and Social Loneliness: Confirmatory Tests on Survey Data. Research on Aging 2006;28(5):582-598.

  BACKGROUND

• Kroenke K, Spitzer RL, Williams JB. The PHQ-9: validity of a brief depression severity measure. J Gen Intern Med. 2001 Sep;16(9):606-13. doi: 10.1046/j.1525-1497.2001.016009606.x.

  PMID: 11556941 BACKGROUND

Related Links

• Company website for the company responsible for the creation of the virtual travel-into-nature application Toujours Dimanche

Study Officials

• Élisabeth Thibaudeau, Ph.D.

  Laval University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Deputy Scientific Director

Model Details: One group will have access to the virtual reality application Toujours Dimanche alongside their treatment as usual during their hospitalization in psychiatric care, the other will be a control group and will only receive treatment as usual.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 18, 2025
• First Posted: March 25, 2025
• Study Start: March 11, 2024
• Primary Completion: August 13, 2024
• Study Completion: August 27, 2024
• Last Updated: April 3, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-03

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

CA (1)