School of Nursing & Midwifery Annual Report 2018

Catherine McAuley School of Nursing and Midwifery, UCC

The E-MAT Intervention; a Novel Virtual Reality Experience Aimed to Enhance Men’s Awareness of Testicular Disorders

The Story: Dr Mohamad Saab and a team of researchers from the UCC School of Nursing and Midwifery, Department of Computer Science, and School of Public Health designed and tested a virtual reality intervention aimed to Enhance Men’s Awareness of Testicular disorders (E-MAT) and familiarise them with the normal appearance of their testes. E-MAT is a 3-level virtual reality experience delivered using a virtual reality headset, controller with vibrational feedback, and headphones with voiceover. A study was conducted to test the feasibility and usability of E-MAT among 15 university students who perceived the intervention as user friendly, humorous, appealing, novel, and informative. A study was then conducted to test the effectiveness of E-MAT among 53 university students who filled a questionnaire before the intervention, immediately after the intervention, and one month following the intervention. It was found that E-MAT was successful in increasing men’s awareness of testicular diseases and improving their willingness to feel their testes and to visit a healthcare professional if they felt any testicular abnormalities.

Dr Saab and colleagues are currently seeking research funding opportunities in order to develop E-MAT further and test it among a broader population, with the hope of making it freely and publicly available. The Team: Dr Mohamad M. Saab (Lead Researcher); Dr Margaret Landers; Mr Eoghan Cooke; Mr David Murphy; Dr Martin Davoren; and Prof Josephine Hegarty

PROJECT PARTNERS

Pictured right: Margaret Landers, Mohamad Saab and Josephine Hegarty

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