Virtual Reality Tour Offers Innovative Look Inside Hospice
Groundbreaking technology will offer children and their families a new innovative way to see inside the Acorns Three Counties children’s hospice.
The collaborative project between Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, Owl 360 and Acorns Children’s Hospice has resulted in the creation of a 360-degree virtual reality tour of hospice facilities.
The tour aims to give a more immersive introduction to its facilities and services as well as tackle common misconceptions about hospices.
The walk-through experience allows users to explore the corridors of the charity’s Worcester-based hospice, Acorns for the Three Counties, and see its warm home from home environment for themselves.
Janine Warner, Deputy Head Nurse at Acorns for the Three Counties, said: “We’re extremely grateful to Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust and Owl 360 for creating this amazing new tool and we’ve enjoyed working with their teams to bring our hospice to life in this way. Not only will it help families new to Acorns feel like they’ve already been to our hospice before they visit for the first time, it will also give the public and our supporters, whose generous donations and fundraising efforts enable us to continue our work, a new innovative way of seeing inside our hospice.”
Catherine Binney, Paediatric Clinical Psychologist said,“The Orchard Service (Children’s Community Nursing and Palliative Care team) was keen to help one of their patients ‘see inside’ Acorns to allow him choices about his care and reduce any possible worries. As he was not at that time able to visit Acorns in person, we thought creatively and since our clinicians and IT GDE team had already supported this young man with virtual reality experiences due to the limitations of his condition, the idea of a virtual reality tour seemed an innovative solution. Close collaboration between all partners involved enabled this patient and his family to experience the host of facilities Acorns can offer. We are very proud of the responsiveness of our staff and grateful to Acorns and Owl 360 who responded quickly to make this happen. We are delighted that this project will provide ongoing opportunities for other families in Worcestershire to have an immersive experience of what Acorns can offer at their warm and friendly children’s hospice."
The virtual reality tour will be available to view on Acorns website. Care teams from Acorns and NHS children’s community nurses can take will be able to ‘take the hospice’ to new families using a VR headset.
Acorns Children Hospice provides specialist palliative care for babies, children and young people with life limiting and life threatening conditions, as well as support for their families.
To take the virtual tour of Acorns for the Three Counties, visit www.acorns.org.uk/inside-our-hospice