A project from the University of New South Wales could be the first in the world to deploy virtual reality tools to help address trauma in rural and regional indigenous communities.

Based on a media statement, the project will work with Aboriginal communities in developing culturally informed tools that can be used to provide psychosocial support and address intergenerational trauma. VR tools will be later evaluated for their cultural, psychosocial and health impact.

Aboriginal organisations and the Mawarnkarra Health Service in Western Australia were identified as key collaborators.

The federal government supports the project with A$2.8 million ($1.9 million) grant funding through the Medical Research Future Fund.

WHY IT MATTERS

The project claims to be the first to incorporate indigenous knowledge and contemporary trauma theory in developing VR. 

"VR is beginning to be used in clinical settings and for exposure therapies but what we’re doing is very different. We will be providing communities with tools that make sense of feelings and experiences associated with trauma, and which support the processing of trauma," said project lead Jill Bennett, a professor at UNSW Arts, Design and Architecture.

Previously, the same team held workshops and VR-based projects in Warwick, Queensland where audio-visual tools were utilised to assist First Nations people in dealing with the impacts of youth suicide in their community.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people deal with more mental health issues than non-indigenous Australians. In the past decade, they reported over twice as many cases of high or very high psychological distress, as well as nearly twice as many suicides, according to data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Moreover, their rate of hospitalisation due to mental health-related conditions increased by over half. 

A mental health-specific programme of the Australian government funds primary health networks (PHN) to provide culturally appropriate, evidence-based services to indigenous people, including psychological therapies and complex mental health support.

THE LARGER TREND

Various digital health projects in rural and regional Australia have been conducted over the past years, aiming to broaden access to healthcare and raise indigenous health outcomes.

This includes a Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre-backed project in the Northern Territory, which is currently exploring and evaluating virtual care tools that could be better deployed and meet the needs of indigenous communities in the coming years. 

Early this year, government grant funding was also awarded to a Sydney project using medical drones to complement the PHNs work through long-distance medicines delivery.