An Australian study is exploring VR for safe fall recovery among people with spinal cord injury.
The University of Queensland is leading the project, which is developing a virtual reality programme to help patients practise safe falls for the first time.
The work builds on seven years of research into spinal cord injury and falls and is now in development, with co-design workshops involving clinicians and people living with spinal cord injury.
In a statement, Ros Bates, Queensland minister for finance, trade, employment and training, said the project aims to “improve recovery, independence, and long-term outcomes for people seriously injured in catastrophic incidents like motor vehicle accidents.”
Dr Kathryn Marshall of the University of Queensland said: “We learnt that people with spinal cord injury have mixed expectations of whether they will fall, which is shaped by their own sense of control.
“This makes it challenging to provide impactful falls education, as often, people may not think it will happen to them.
“We also learnt that people find that having a fall or hearing from others who have fallen can be a very effective way of learning.
“However, obviously, because of the potentially serious and lasting consequences of falls, we don’t want people falling if it can be avoided.”
Marshall said VR could provide a “relatively safe way to engage with falls and learn from them.”
She said: “We think this might be the first time VR is being used to learn about falls with people with spinal cord injury.”
The research aims to determine whether VR could be used as part of practical education and help build skills and confidence in managing falls among wheelchair users.
Clinical trials will later be conducted by Metro South Health, with a pilot planned for mid-2027 in the inpatient spinal rehabilitation service at Princess Alexandra Hospital.
