Using VR to Address Social Determinants of Health

A pilot project co-led by BUSSW professor Linda Sprague Martinez uses virtual reality (VR) as a teaching tool

An estimated 70% of variation in health outcomes and rates of hospitalization are attributable to Social Determinants of Health (SDoH), a group of factors that includes housing, income, employment and education. Although SDoH screening during medical visits has been adopted by many health systems, medical education continues to focus primarily on identification and treatment of disease at the individual level. Trainees are often under-equipped to address patients’ health-related social needs (HRSN) and are led to believe that SDoH are beyond the scope of clinical practice.

A pilot project led by Boston University School of Social Work Associate Professor Linda Sprague Martinez and colleagues at BU School of Medicine is exploring whether a virtual reality (VR) learning environment can increase medical, physician assistant, and social work students’ confidence in their ability to refer, advocate and, ultimately, mitigate patients’ health-related social needs. 

The project team will study whether creating a VR interdisciplinary learning environment in which students can collaboratively grapple with virtual scenarios will: 1) enhance students’ understanding of SDoH and associated HRSNs, and 2) promote their ability to engage in collaborative problem solving with diverse health care professionals.

In addition to Sprague Martinez, the project team includes BU School of Medicine’s Pablo Buitron de la Vega, MS, MSc, and Aliza Stern, MMSc, PA-C. The project is supported by BU Digital Learning & Innovation’s (DL&I) Digital Education Incubator.

For more information, please visit the pilot project here.