Using virtual reality urban greenness with peer support to reduce stress and enhance social connection in older adults with mild depression: a pilot randomized controlled trial
AI Summary
VR urban greenspace reduced self-reported anxiety and negative emotions and lowered heart rate during intervention versus control.
VR urban greenspace with peer support increased social connection and produced significant heart rate reduction after intervention.
Pilot 3-arm cluster-randomised controlled trial provides preliminary evidence that virtual nature-based social prescribing reduces stress and enhances social connection in older adults.
Innov Aging. 2026 May 4;10(7):igag044. doi: 10.1093/geroni/igag044. eCollection 2026.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Virtual reality (VR) urban greenspace (UGS) presents an innovative strategy to enhance the mental well-being of older individuals in urban environments. However, knowledge regarding the design of VR UGS interventions to effectively reduce stress among older adults while fostering social connections remains unclear. We conducted a 3-arm cluster-randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a social prescribing model in reducing stress and enhancing social connection among older people with mild depressive symptoms.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The 3-arm cluster-randomized controlled trial (25 participants per arm) consisted of VRUGS without peer support (VRUGS), VRUGS with peer support (VRUGS-PS), and a control group (CG; non-biophilic VR intervention without peer supporters). The study captured subjective (e.g., self-reported stress) and objective measurements (e.g., heart rate [HR]) of stress and social connection assessments pre- and post-intervention.
RESULTS: Mixed linear modeling revealed that compared to the CG, VRUGS group experienced significant reductions in self-reported anxiety (β = -2.72, p = .009) and negative emotions (β = -1.16, p = .039). The VRUGS-PS group showed a significant increase in social connection (β = 0.76, p = .017). Compared to CG, the VRUGS group showed a significant HR decrease during the intervention (β = -1.93, p < .001), while the VRUGS-PS group exhibited a significant HR reduction post-intervention (β = -0.60, p = .035), experiencing stress relief.
DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: This study provides preliminary evidence that virtual nature-based social prescribing model’s effectiveness in reducing stress and enhancing social connections among older adults.
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