Use of Second Life in doctor-patient relationships
After spending a considerable amount of time learning how to move around in Second Life, I do believe that there is great potential for “virtual” doctor-patient relationships. I think the biggest obstacle is just getting the computer “challenged” to become comfortable with the environment. Second Life is mostly being used for education, training, marketing and promotion of health services, and for research, support groups, peer groups etc. While it may have a ways to go in getting the general public to trust and utilize this for any type of real doctor-patient relationship that involves a true “virtual visit” I think this could be ground breaking on many fronts for healthcare as a whole.
I have spent over 15 years working with computers and even I found it a challenge to get used to moving and finding things that I was looking for. It is somewhat of a cross between Sims and Halo for the gaming world. There are many tricks and methods for gaining access to worlds you want to visit and for building your own worlds. For an adult that wishes to interact with their provider I am not sure most would find it a comfortable or trusting environment although I think the explosion of the internet is going to bridge that gap quickly. For a child that has grown up with computers and gaming, I think it might be the perfect situation, especially for psychological/psychiatric encounters with their provider. My guess would be that it takes much of the fear of going to the doctor in a real world environment (sterile, cold, overwhelming) and turns it into more of a game which for most children is very comfortable.
This world is well known to children and young adults and might eliminate much of the fear of talking about abuse, or similar issues with a doctor in Second Life. They might feel more comfortable talking about things in such a world when they are actually in the privacy of their own home. I would think it is easier for a child to open up about things in a “virtual” world then in the real world. This world allows for more anonymity even allowing for the “morphing” of the users voice to hide their identity further.
I also believe there is a potential for “prepping” the patient in this virtual world. Rather than focusing on the actual visit, this world might allow for preparing a patient for procedures, or help them learn about health problems before even visiting their provider. The provider could set up patients with “pre-visit/procedure” scenarios specifically designed for their patient. It could also be used as a platform for preparing a patient for psychological type questions that would be asked in future visits. If they were difficult and or embarrassing type questions, giving them a chance to hear the questions and think about their answers might make it more comfortable when answering them in person(of course in some cases a “psychiatric” visit in general might be much easier in this virtual world as well) . Not being a clinician, it is hard for me to give medically relevant answers but from a patient perspective I find this world fascinating and certainly one I would use if I could rely on security.
It would seem that working with Autism and Aspergers patients might have benefits in Second Life in addition to substance abuse patients and patients with social interaction problems as well. I’m sure I’ve only hit the tip of the iceberg here, but there truly is great potential and I sincerely hope it is allowed to grow and become a viable option for provider-patient relationships in the future.
