This was my first opportunity to experience Second Life (SL) and initially felt unsure as to what to expect. After setting up my login account, installing the necessary software etc I spent a lot of time learning how to effectively move around and interact with objects in Second Life (SL).
In a bid to try and make some sense of this world and the kinds of Health care oriented sites that already exist within it I visited a number of destinations. Palomar West Hospital was my first port of call and was interesting from the point of view of moving around the physical structure of the hospital itself. However, I found it somewhat limited from an interactive perspective. The Cisco information kiosk near the front desk was about the most interactive object available and the web site I was redirected to from there did provide a lot of content to review. The Mayo Clinic site on the other hand was more like what I thought I would find. By that I mean there was more opportunity to interact with objects such as medical information boards for example. A conference facility was also available, no doubt for scheduled in-world presentations (though none where active while I was there). The UK
In general, most of these sites did appear well thought out and promoted such things as health education, training, marketing, research and support. Many other destinations I attempted to go to were either private or simply used to stage meetings/presentations every now and then. I did not find any areas where I could engage with a physician on a health topic /issue per se so it was difficult to assess how that encounter worked in practice. It is worth mentioning that at the times I visited the destinations I have mentioned, I was entirely alone. Perhaps I was expecting at least some other avatars to be wondering around but none were to be seen. This is purely anecdotal, so I will not draw too many conclusions here but it had me wondering just how much traffic that specific health sites get. If they are not really being used by frequently, what does that say about SL at this stage of its development?
It was not until the class seminars on Davis Island
My experience roaming SL has left me with some nagging questions. For instance, I am not entirely sure what clearly differentiates SL from other technologies available from health care providers. Could not the same services be provided from these locations as well, be it email, websites etc? Perhaps SL can differentiate itself by being a one stop shop so to speak and offer a more powerful interactive presentation environment with which to deliver health care information and secure private consultations. Another question that comes to mind is whether the communication of health information or virtual health consultations actually impacts individual health behavior? One answer was forthcoming in an article examining the impact of patient expectations and anxiety over health procedures. It was suggested a SL experience may actually improve clinical outcomes by giving patients a better understanding of the health care system and its procedures before they come to the hospital or the clinic. [2]
There are some limitations which may be encountered using SL. To begin with, any participant must possess some technical proficiency to successfully download and install the requisite software. They must also possess the capability to manage virtual interactive exchanges. It definitely is more complex than a site like Facebook but the up side is that it also offers a more sophisticated environment in which to interact with. This may not be an issue with the more computer literate or younger computer users but it could be for older users who have limited exposure to computing. A SL implementation should incorporate adequate training and allow time for participants to attain an acceptable level of knowledge and proficiency prior to use. Users should also be made aware of the impact of not having a broadband connection and even a computer with some decent RAM and graphics capability. I think any user training should also give the user some simple approaches on how to better discriminate a good site versus one which has more of a marketing angle to push. If a user needs to obtain health information, they need to know how to target it and not get side tracked in the carnival like atmosphere SL can exude.
On balance, these drawbacks are not insurmountable by any means and I for one hope SL can evolve to become a viable option for doctor-patient relationships in the future. However, there does need to be some more work on how to better confirm medical authority in these doctor patient online exchanges and perhaps some more thought on how people actually behave in health related activities in virtual worlds to make the encounter a meaningful one for all involved.
[1] Vanessa G. González, ‘Towards a Virtual Doctor-Patient Relationship: Understanding virtual patients’ , The Journal of Virtual Worlds Research, Vol 2, Number 2, August 2009, p 4-5, See http://journals.tdl.org/jvwr/article/download/607/494
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