Queen Elizabeth Hospital Expands VR for Terminal Patients
AM730 · 5 SOURCES3 minutes ago2 MIN
Summary
Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s occupational therapy team has been using personalized virtual reality experiences for palliative care patients who are too unwell to leave hospital, allowing them to revisit homes, neighbourhoods and meaningful places in immersive form . Therapists film 360-degree footage during their own time, then play the edited videos at the bedside using low-cost cardboard headsets and smartphones . The hospital says more than 20 patients have received the service since it was introduced to palliative wards last year or in 2025, depending on the source description, and a review of 15 patients found reduced pain, anxiety and distress after the sessions . Staff hope to make the service routine in palliative care and later extend it to other wards, including intensive care, for conscious patients with limited mobility .
Key Points
- The service was developed by Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s occupational therapy department for bedridden late-stage patients, with therapists tailoring each VR journey to a patient’s most missed place .
- Therapists use smartphones, stabilizers and panoramic or 360-degree shooting to create immersive clips, viewed through cardboard VR headsets costing about HK$10 each .
- The hospital has served more than 20 patients, and analysis of 15 cases found average pain scores fell from 4.5 to 3.0 after VR sessions .
- The same 15-patient review found anxiety or distress scores dropped from 5.5 to 3.8, suggesting measurable psychological relief alongside emotional comfort .
- Cases included an 80-year-old former housing estate mutual aid committee chairman and a 59-year-old terminal cancer patient revisiting seaside memories with her husband .
Why It Matters
For Hong Kong hospitals, the project points to a relatively inexpensive way to improve end-of-life care for patients who remain conscious but are physically unable to go home or revisit familiar places . The reported reductions in pain and anxiety suggest emotional fulfilment can support clinical comfort, which may strengthen the case for wider use in palliative wards and possibly intensive care settings .
For Hong Kong hospitals, the project points to a relatively inexpensive way to improve end-of-life care for patients who remain conscious but are physically unable to go home or revisit familiar places . The reported reductions in pain and anxiety suggest emotional fulfilment can support clinical comfort, which may strengthen the case for wider use in palliative wards and possibly intensive care settings .