A VIRTUAL reality simulation of Coventry Hospital has been designed by students to improve access to health services for refugees.
The aim of the simulation is to help refugees and migrants familiarise themselves with the process of seeking healthcare, from receiving a referral letter to seeking treatment in hospital.
The simulation has been created by Digital Media students using 360 cameras to accurately capture the hospital.
Coventry University teamed up with Coventry City Council’s Health Access for Refugees Programme (HARP) and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust to create the simulation.
The technology was showcased at the Immersive Health Event which was attended by an audience of healthcare professionals.
Dr Bianca Wright, who organised the event, said: “For refugee communities, accessing NHS services is not always straight forward. There are cultural differences, language barriers and they may not be familiar with the systems used.
“What this simulation does is it guides people through their whole visit, from receiving their GP referral letter to seeking treatment at the hospital.
“We have an English language version, but we’ve also made use of AI in a positive way to create an Arabic language simulation.
“Although this particular project is focused on helping refugees, we envisage that immersive technology could be used in a number of different ways within healthcare, so this event is also about showcasing what the technology can do.”
