Delays in acute stroke treatment contribute to severe and negative impacts for patients and significant costs to the health system. Targeted approaches to optimise stroke workflow processes can improve patient outcomes but is challenging to achieve. Virtual reality (VR) provides immersive and engaging training and overcomes some existing training barriers. We recently initiated the TACTICS acute stroke trial evaluating an implementation intervention combining multimodal CT imaging and streamlined workflow training. Within this trial we developed TACTICS VR, which includes a novel portable VR training application to upskill healthcare professionals in optimal stroke workflow, user-facing website and automated analytics. TACTICS VR was developed via an extensive consultation process to ensure content was evidence-based, best-practice and tailored for the target audience.
We report implementation of TACTICS VR in 22 Australian hospitals with 177 users through March 2021. In the training, users work through a real-world stroke case and make decisions relating to stroke workflow from pre-notification through assessment, imaging interpretation and treatment.
Mean training duration was approximately 21 minutes with 79% response accuracy. Survey feedback indicate a high level of usability, acceptability and utility of TACTICS VR, including aspects of hardware, software design, educational content, training feedback and implementation strategy. Further, users self-reported increased confidence in their ability to make improvements in stroke management after TACTICS VR training (post-training mean=4.1; pre-training=3.6; 1=strongly disagree, 5=strongly agree; n=58).
TACTICS VR is a fit-for-purpose, evidence-based training application for stroke workflow optimisation that can be readily deployed on-site in a clinical setting.
ACTRN12619000750189