As covered in The Telegraph Voyager has assisted West Dorset General Hospital on a research project that looks at reducing stress and improves recovery rates in leukaemia and lymphoma patients, by providing with a wireless live link to a nature reserve.
Patients in isolation rooms at Dorset County Hospital are now able to watch a live view of nature reserve 24/7. A camera with a view of the lake and gardens at Kingston Maurward House is connected via a wireless link to the hospital 3km away.
The view is transmitted to a large LCD screen in individual rooms where patients are isolated for several weeks, whilst undergoing treatment for Leukaemia and other blood disorders. The low key sensory stimulus provides a soothing and healing experience for patients who are unable to leave their rooms due to their high risk of infection.
With the improvements in technology throughout the hospital, the installation of the video link to the ward is an attempt to reduce stress levels and pain in cancer patients. Alex Coulter, Arts Co-ordinator for Dorset County Hospital, said, “The treatment for Leukaemia is traumatic and stressful. We hope that a live view of nature will allow patients to think about and experience the real world outside their isolation rooms and that this will contribute to their increased well being and quality of life while confined to isolation in the hospital. We hope that evidence from the research project will provide extra support for developing the project further. This is a pilot scheme and we hope to develop the project with other cameras in different locations around Dorset”.
