Life at 100.4: An Immersive Social Virtual Reality Education Tool for Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Patients and Caregivers

ABSTRACT Nearly 90,000 adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients are diagnosed with cancer each year in the United States and cancer remains the leading cause of disease-related deaths in this population. Patients whose families struggle with access to resources or have low health literacy experience unique challenges that disproportionately negatively impact their outcomes and ability to adhere to therapy. The most common complication in oncology patients is febrile neutropenia, a condition marked by fever and a low number of white blood cells that make patients more susceptible to life-threatening infections. The mortality of untreated febrile neutropenia is as high as 30%. Factors that impact outcomes in patients with febrile neutropenia include delay to care and not receiving antibiotics in a timely manner. Reasons for delay to care include a lack of understanding about the seriousness of febrile neutropenia and difficulty navigating the healthcare system. Virtual reality can provide a unique method for patient education, as it has been found to provide better retention of information through role-play and immersion compared to reading text or listening to lectures. This proposal aims to combat knowledge gaps surrounding febrile neutropenia through the implementation of a novel, immersive social VR-based intervention called Life at 100.4. This program will provide critical education to patients and caregivers to set expectations and develop appropriate management techniques related to febrile neutropenia during cancer treatment. This work will result in the development of a critical new tool specific to febrile neutropenia while also serving to establish VR more broadly as an effective patient and caregiver education tool, particularly for the near 40% of the population with low health literacy.