Reducing Mental Health Stigmatization Among Healthcare Workers and Students Using a Virtual Reality Protocol: The VIRTUS Protocol

Reducing Mental Health Stigmatization Among Healthcare Workers and Students Using a Virtual Reality Protocol: The VIRTUS Protocol, a Randomized Controlled Trial

Schizophrenia is a chronic psychiatric disorder, frequently associated with stigma, including within healthcare settings, that significantly impairs quality of life and symptoms. Virtual Reality (VR), as an immersive tool, may allow healthy individuals to experience the first-person perspective of a patient undergoing psychotic symptoms. VR exposure may facilitate perspective-taking, fosters empathy, and studies suggest VR could be a valuable tool to reduce stigma. However, the findings remain incomplete, with considerable variation between protocols and no data on implicit stigma. This study is designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a VR protocol simulating psychotic symptoms on explicit and implicit stigma.

Methods and Analysis A randomized controlled trial involving 128 participants will be conducted. Participants will include healthcare workers and students (medicine, nursing, or psychology) recruited from CH Henri Laborit in Poitiers (France), Poitiers University Hospital, CH Nord-Deux-Sèvres in Thouars (France), and the University of Poitiers. Recruitment will take place over a two-year period. Participants will be randomly assigned to either the intervention group or the control group.

The protocol involves two short VR scenarios. In the intervention condition only, both scenarios will simulate auditory and visual hallucinations and persecutory delusions, to immerse participants in the experience of someone living with schizophrenia. Stigma will be assessed before the VR intervention, immediately afterward, and at one-month follow-up. Assessment will be conducted using self-report scales (Attribution Questionnaire-27 items by Corrigan et al., 2003 (AQ-27), Community Attitudes toward the Mentally Ill, Taylor & Dear 1981 (CAMI) and Reported and Intended Behavior Scale by Evans-Lacko et al., 2011 (RIBS) for explicit stigma, and a behavioural test (Implicit Association Task, Greenwald, McGhee et Schwartz en 1998 (IAT)) for the implicit stigma.

The primary outcome is the reduction in stigma toward individuals with schizophrenia, assessed with the AQ-27 scale, from baseline to the one-month follow-up, comparing the intervention and control groups. The expected result is a greater reduction in stigma in the intervention group compared to the control group. Secondary outcomes include a one-month reduction in implicit associations, immediate post-intervention effects on stigma, changes in self-reported prejudice and discrimination over time.

Ethics and Dissemination All participants receive both oral and written information and provided signed informed consent. The study is under review from the French Research Ethics Committee (reference number: 2025-A01472-47). Results will be disseminated through presentations, conferences, and publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Inclusion Criteria:

• aged between 18 and 65
• currently employed as a healthcare professional or enrolled as a advanced-grade student in medicine, nursing, or psychology
• no history of psychiatric or addictive disorders (except for tobacco dependence)
• covered by French social security
• able to provide informed written consent after receiving appropriate information.

Exclusion Criteria:

• current or past psychiatric or addictive disorder (except tobacco dependence)
• use of antipsychotic medication; first-degree family history of schizophrenia; cognitive impairment
• susceptibility to cybersickness
• recent (<1 year) or acute neurological disorders
• history of epilepsy
• known otorhinolaryngologic conditions causing vertigo, nausea or vomiting
• pregnancy or breastfeeding
• legal protection measures
• any condition, in the investigator's opinion that would prevent valid questionnaire completion.