The use of extended reality (XR) in patient education: A critical perspective

Objective: Extended reality (XR) has emerged as an innovative educational modality that offers the potential for the creation of more interactive and engaging forms of patient education experiences and products. The purpose of this article is to describe the field of XR technologies and review its potential through a critical lens as well as its possible adoption as a mainstream technology for providing patient education in the future. Method: A review of the literature was undertaken to summarise the emerging evidence concerning the effectiveness of XR as a patient education modality. The findings of several reviews are summarised and a critical discussion of potential issues and challenges in the adoption and use of XR among particular marginalised populations are explored. Results: The emerging evidence suggests that different forms of XR technology applications have the potential to create immersive and engaging patient education experiences that can lead to enhanced patient satisfaction, positive educational outcomes and reduced patient anxiety. Nonetheless, there have been calls for greater consideration of how patient characteristics, including socioeconomic status, gender, cultural and generational differences, influence the learning effects of virtual reality educational applications, as well as its adoption and implementation for patient education purposes. Conclusion: The evidence surrounding the effectiveness of XR in patient education is growing; however, various factors could influence the successful adoption and implementation of XR in different patient populations who have traditionally experienced challenges with digital health literacy. The paper offers some recommendations for enhancing the evidence base and potential approaches to advance the design and evaluation of XR applications in patient education.