Abstract

Recently there has been a global recognition on the importance of holistic person-centred care for patients with end-stage diseases. This project aims to heighten student awareness on navigating the care needs of these patients and develop ethical reasoning in end-of-life (EOL) care. Immersive virtual reality (IVR) technology that allows students to enter the virtual simulated ward environment and gain a genuine first-person unmediated experience from patient’s perspective will be used. Four IVR illustrating common ethical dilemmas in EOL care will provide students with a sense of presence through visual, auditory and haptic sensory feedback. The novelty of this pedagogical approach is that the experiential learning would enhance reflexivity of students of nursing and gerontology programmes on patients’ psycho-socio-spiritual needs. In addition, four micro-modules including interactive games and case studies will be developed for students to critically identify the ethical roles and responsibilities of health professionals in the provision of compassionate care. A pretest posttest study on the attitudes towards EOL care and three focus group interviews will be conducted to determine the project effects and understand students’ learning experience. The project will enable students to realize the ethical issues in EOL care through embodiment and thus can be applied in other health-related disciplines and general education in the university.