Nature scenes relieve stress for healthcare workers, even if they're only virtually real

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-02-10 06:00

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US scientists say experiencing a nature scene in Virtual Reality (VR) for just three minutes can reduce stress levels among overworked frontline COVID-19 healthcare workers. Before donning the VR helmet, 102 healthcare workers rated their stress levels on a 10-point scale. Then they immersed themselves in virtual nature for three minutes. On returning to real reality, they again rated their stress levels, and, on average, they had dropped by 2.2 points on the scale. Of 33 participants who rated themselves as highly stressed before the VR, only four remained highly stressed after the virtual nature session, the scientists say. Although the results are promising, they say further work to compare the VR intervention with no intervention at all in a larger group is required to confirm the findings.