Using VR to Facilitate Support Groups for Transgender Youths
Using VR to Facilitate Support Groups for Transgender Youths
Yale School of Medicine
Sector
Healthcare & Pharma
Glimpse Subsidiary
Foretell RealityTechnology
Virtual Reality
Challenge
The Yale School of Medicine acknowledged that transgender youth can encounter barriers to obtaining mental health care due to stigma, bias, and a shortage of providers skilled in serving this community. Additionally, traditional face-to-face support groups may make transgender youth feel uneasy or endangered.
As a result, Yale aimed to establish a secure and accepting environment to offer support that encourages these individuals to express themselves more comfortably.
Solution
Yale collaborated with Foretell Reality, a Glimpse Group subsidiary, to tackle this issue. Using Foretell's collaborative VR platform enabled transgender youth to join support group meetings from their homes.
The platform leverages personalized avatars to depict each participant, allowing them to select an avatar that closely matches their own physical appearance and gender identity.
Outcome
The VR platform offered a secure and friendly setting, reducing the probability of triggering dysphoria for transgender youth. The personalized avatars and immersive virtual reality environment fostered a sense of belonging and togetherness among the participants.
All the participants were very positive about their experience, with the VR platform proving to be an important resource for providing support to a group that may have faced difficulties in accessing it otherwise.
Case Study Video
