VR-Psycho – Virtual reality as support for burnout protection through non-formal education
Stress and burnout can have serious negative effects on individuals, including physical and mental health problems, reduced productivity and efficiency, and increased risk of turnover. In youth work, where individuals may be working with a vulnerable or challenging population, the risk of stress and burnout can be even higher. The use of virtual reality as a stress and burnout prevention tool for youth workers and young leaders was intended to address this issue by providing a unique and immersive learning experience that allowed individuals to directly experience and process difficult situations in a safe and controlled environment. Overall, the use of virtual reality as a stress and burnout prevention tool for youth workers and young leaders is expected to have a positive impact on the wellbeing and effectiveness of these individuals, as well as the organizations and communities in which they work.
Virtual reality was chosen for this project because it has a strong ability to simulate a believable environment and has a greater impact on education and the transfer of emotion and information compared to other technologies.
Project objectives
The output of the project is a set of virtual reality simulation activities focused on stress and burnout prevention. The project was developed in response to the need to create an environment based on real-life situations and studies in which young leaders can prevent stress and burnout in their work and to create support materials for youth workers who support and train young leaders. An innovative element of the project was the use of virtual reality, which allowed participants to directly experience and process 'first-hand' what they might encounter in real life. The output is in the form of case studies that will be used as a basis for creating a virtual reality environment. Once the case studies were completed, the partner organisations worked together to design and develop the virtual reality simulations with the needs and objectives of the target groups in mind. The simulations were then tested and refined based on feedback from the focus groups. The project will result in a set of learning materials in the form of case studies and virtual reality environments that can be used in non-formal education and other settings, such as psychological counselling centres. The lead organisation for this deliverable is SPACE Ltd and the work has been shared between a specialist group of partner organisations. The project used a participatory approach with frequent consultation and feedback from the target groups throughout the process. The expected impact of the project is to increase knowledge and understanding among youth workers and young leaders on how to prevent burnout in their work, as well as to increase the transferability of the output to other areas of youth work and non-formal education.
