Elderly care homes

Gentle Calm for Routine Care in a Familiar Room

Residents face regular injections, blood tests and vaccinations, often from visiting staff in a lounge or bedroom. Needle fear does not retire with age, and a rushed procedure can unsettle a resident for the rest of the day. SendorVR offers a calm place to be while it happens.

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Gentle Calm for Routine Care in a Familiar Room

What Makes This Setting Hard

Fear that has lasted a lifetime
Needle fear usually begins in childhood and, for some, never leaves. A resident who has spent decades avoiding blood tests will not stop being afraid because the setting is a care home.
A bad ten minutes can shape the whole day
Distress around a procedure can linger for hours in residents who find change difficult. Keeping the moment calm protects the rest of the day for the resident and for the staff.
Visiting clinicians have limited time
A district nurse or phlebotomist doing a round has minutes per resident. Something a carer can prepare before they arrive helps everyone.

How SendorVR Fits the Workflow

No medication, no clinical intervention, and no change to how the procedure is done. Four steps, about thirty seconds of staff time.

1
Choose the right resident and moment
Offer it to residents who understand what it is and would like to try. Introduce the headset on a quiet day first, not on the day of the procedure.
2
A familiar carer fits it
Sitting in their usual chair, with a carer's hand within reach. The experience is calm and slow, with no sudden movement.
3
The clinician works as usual
Injection or blood test performed exactly as before. The resident hears everything and can speak throughout.
4
Come back gently
Remove the headset slowly, stay a minute, then wipe the cover. The headset returns to its case until next time.

What the Research Says

SendorVR is a comfort aid, not a treatment, and it has not been trialled on its own. The published evidence below is what it is designed around. Every citation links to the original publication.

Experimental study · 2004
Stronger presence, the feeling of being inside the virtual world, was associated with greater reductions in reported pain during immersive VR.
Hoffman et al., University of Washington
Review · 2021
Interaction inside the virtual world helps sustain presence and attentional diversion, which is why a short experience needs something to do, not just something to watch.
Hoffman, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

Practical Details

About 30 seconds
Fit the headset, tap start, carry on.
Any staff member
Kiosk mode, one app, nothing to configure.
Wipe and go
Wipeable face cover and cleaning kit included.
Ages 10 and up
Follows the headset maker's guidance.
Always optional
Patients choose; some prefer to watch.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is VR suitable for residents with dementia?

Not by default. SendorVR should be offered to residents who understand what the headset is and can say they want to use it. Care teams know their residents; some people with mild cognitive impairment enjoy it, and others should not be offered it.

Could the headset cause dizziness or falls?

Residents use SendorVR seated, and the experience contains no fast motion, which is the usual trigger for discomfort. A carer stays beside them and removes the headset if anything seems off.

Does it work with glasses and hearing aids?

The headset fits over most glasses, and hearing aids are unaffected. The audio is gentle and can be turned off so the resident hears only the room.

Can the same headset be used across a home?

Yes. The Clinical Kit includes a wipeable face cover and a cleaning kit, and one kit typically serves a whole home for scheduled procedures.

Is there evidence for VR in older adults?

Research on immersive VR for older adults is early and focuses mostly on wellbeing rather than needle procedures. SendorVR is a comfort aid designed around the general VR distraction literature; we do not claim clinical outcomes in this setting.