Virtual Choirs in Care Homes: The Development and Early Assessment of a New Virtual Reality Choir Intervention

Helena Daffern; Helen Louise Ann Weatherly; Pedro Rafael Saramago Goncalves; Kim Steele; Dana Greaves; Maeve Kavanagh; Lucy Cooney; Jake Spreadborough; Stephen Honnan; Daniel Johnston; Ross  Toomer

doi:10.3390/virtualworlds4010008

Virtual Choirs in Care Homes: The Development and Early Assessment of a New Virtual Reality Choir Intervention

Helena Daffern, Helen Louise Ann Weatherly, Pedro Rafael Saramago Goncalves, Kim Steele, Dana Greaves, Maeve Kavanagh, Lucy Cooney, Jake Spreadborough, Stephen Honnan, Daniel Johnston, Ross Toomer

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Engaging with music has been shown to have a positive impact on the quality of life of residents in care homes, who are known to be affected by anxiety, depression and loneliness. Based on the known benefits of in-person singing activities, a new Virtual Reality (VR) choir application was developed to facilitate group singing, aiming to improve residents’ wellbeing and sense of community. Co-designed with Alzheimer Scotland, the intervention was tested in two care homes for functionality and to develop an approach towards assessing feasibility. Residents participated in scheduled sessions over a five-week period, in addition to staff engaging in independent ad hoc use of the experience with residents. Data on reactions to the intervention, the quality of life of participants and preferences about the outcome instruments were collected. The VR intervention proved technically successful, user-friendly, and allowed multiple users to sing together. Participants and staff showed strong enthusiasm for the intervention, with residents actively engaging in singing and movement, although some residents found the headsets uncomfortable. This suggests that VR choirs could be a valuable, scalable activity in care homes, especially when in-person facilitators are unavailable. Preliminary observations indicated that the intervention was not detrimental to participants’ health; however, the sample size was very small and a larger feasibility study is required to examine the intervention’s effectiveness, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. This research highlights the challenges associated with measuring the feasibility of VR interventions in residential care settings, and the value of capturing qualitative data in an ecological setting that represents the intended use of the intervention.

Original language	English
Article number	8
Number of pages	25
Journal	Virtual Worlds
Volume	4
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/virtualworlds4010008
Publication status	Published - 28 Feb 2025

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10.3390/virtualworlds4010008Licence: CC BY

Virtual Choirs in Care Homes: The Development and Early Assessment of a New Virtual Reality Choir Intervention
© 2025 by the authors.
Final published version, 538 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Virtual Choirs in Care Homes: The Development and Early Assessment of a New Virtual Reality Choir Intervention",

abstract = "Engaging with music has been shown to have a positive impact on the quality of life of residents in care homes, who are known to be affected by anxiety, depression and loneliness. Based on the known benefits of in-person singing activities, a new Virtual Reality (VR) choir application was developed to facilitate group singing, aiming to improve residents{\textquoteright} wellbeing and sense of community. Co-designed with Alzheimer Scotland, the intervention was tested in two care homes for functionality and to develop an approach towards assessing feasibility. Residents participated in scheduled sessions over a five-week period, in addition to staff engaging in independent ad hoc use of the experience with residents. Data on reactions to the intervention, the quality of life of participants and preferences about the outcome instruments were collected. The VR intervention proved technically successful, user-friendly, and allowed multiple users to sing together. Participants and staff showed strong enthusiasm for the intervention, with residents actively engaging in singing and movement, although some residents found the headsets uncomfortable. This suggests that VR choirs could be a valuable, scalable activity in care homes, especially when in-person facilitators are unavailable. Preliminary observations indicated that the intervention was not detrimental to participants{\textquoteright} health; however, the sample size was very small and a larger feasibility study is required to examine the intervention{\textquoteright}s effectiveness, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. This research highlights the challenges associated with measuring the feasibility of VR interventions in residential care settings, and the value of capturing qualitative data in an ecological setting that represents the intended use of the intervention.",

author = "Helena Daffern and Weatherly, {Helen Louise Ann} and {Saramago Goncalves}, {Pedro Rafael} and Kim Steele and Dana Greaves and Maeve Kavanagh and Lucy Cooney and Jake Spreadborough and Stephen Honnan and Daniel Johnston and Ross Toomer",

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AU - Daffern, Helena

AU - Weatherly, Helen Louise Ann

AU - Saramago Goncalves, Pedro Rafael

AU - Steele, Kim

AU - Greaves, Dana

AU - Kavanagh, Maeve

AU - Cooney, Lucy

AU - Spreadborough, Jake

AU - Honnan, Stephen

AU - Johnston, Daniel

AU - Toomer, Ross

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