Virtual Reality in Occupational Therapy: Therapeutic Process & Education

Abstract

Virtual reality (VR) allows users to explore and manipulate a computer-generated environment, interacting via multiple sensory modalities visually, auditorily, and/or haptically (Saxena et al., 2016; Pandey & Vaughn, 2021). In the occupational therapy (OT) process, virtual reality is an emerging tool -an emerging practice for rehabilitation to provide a safe, controlled, and consistent environment for patients and safe, guided, and collaborative education for practitioners. With evidence stimming from experiential learning and ecological models (EHP, PEO, PEOP, CMOP-E), VR plays a role in emerging occupational therapy assessments, interventions, and education. This presentation dives into each of these areas as pertains to selected focus areas of upper extremity rehab, activities of daily living (ADLs), and therapist education.