VR-CARE: Virtual
reality training for
risk reduction in
care homes

Research Summary

September 2025 – February 2028

Care home residents are particularly vulnerable to falls and infections, both of which contribute substantially to morbidity, mortality, healthcare utilisation, and reduced quality of life. At the same time, care homes face persistent workforce challenges, including high staff turnover, limited training opportunities, and increasing pressures on service delivery. Innovative and scalable approaches to workforce development are therefore urgently needed.

VR-CARE is an NIHR-funded mixed-methods project that aims to develop, implement, and evaluate a virtual reality (VR) training programme designed to enhance care home staff knowledge, skills, and confidence in falls prevention and hand hygiene. The project combines immersive VR learning with an implementation toolkit to support adoption across diverse care home settings. Through co-design with care home staff, residents’ representatives, and technology developers, the programme will be refined and tested to ensure usability, acceptability, and relevance to practice.

The study will assess the feasibility of delivering VR-based training in care homes and explore its potential impact on staff learning, job satisfaction, workforce retention, resident safety, and organisational outcomes. Economic and implementation evaluations will examine value for money and identify factors influencing successful adoption. Findings will inform the design of a future large-scale trial and contribute to evidence on digital workforce development in adult social care.

Research team

Chief Investigator(s):

Professor Dawn Dowding (University of Manchester)

Co-investigators:

Dr Akbar Ullah, Dr Claire Ford, Dr Helen Hawley-Hague, Dr Jack Wilkinson, Dr Louise Laverty, Dr Norina Gasteiger, Dr William Whittaker, Mrs Joan Chantrell, Mrs Victoria Edmondson, Ms Claire Callaghan, Professor Emma Stanmore, Professor Roman Kislov

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Partners and funding

Project enquiries

Professor Roman Kislov r.kislov@mmu.ac.uk

VR-CARE: Virtual reality training for risk reduction in care homes