Date of Award
5-2023
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management
Committee Chair/Advisor
Dr. Matthew Browning
Abstract
This dissertation focused on studying the lived experience of working with and for people living with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to co-create a personalized nature-based virtual reality (VR) experience. People with severe COPD have issues with being able to breathe clearly and deeply, which then influences their ability to visit outdoor places. Outdoor places have been shown to have many positive effects on multi-dimensional health outcomes. Severe COPD can also make traveling to faraway destinations and even visiting nearby outdoor spaces difficult. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation was to develop personalized nature-based VR experiences as an alternative to physically visiting outdoor spaces for four upstate South Carolina residents with severe COPD. This transdisciplinary research was exploratory and utilized literature and methods from nature, virtual reality, nursing, health narratives and storytelling, and co-creation. Mixed methods were utilized including physiological measures, surveys, semi-structured interviews, and researcher’s voice recordings for data collection with four participants. Based on the research design, Chapter 1 introduced the bodies of literature, background information, and the goal of the dissertation. Chapter 2 measured the effects of co-creating a personalized nature-based VR experience for people with severe COPD, particularly the effects on psychological well-being. Chapter 3 examined the narratives people with severe COPD convey. Chapter 4 explored how cocreating a VR experience with a participant during his end-of-life process and death influenced the researcher (me). Results showed co-creating personalized nature-based VR experiences appeared to increase psychological well-being. Additionally, participants iii offered three counternarratives to society’s assumptions of severe COPD or the “wounded body” narrative: the “teaching body”, the “comedic body”, and the “empowered body”. Chapter 4 reflected on how a participant’s death changed how I viewed the relationship between researcher and participant and the language that was used when discussing research. Chapter 5 discussed research takeaways, limitations, and future directions, such as the value of transdisciplinary teams to yield impactful applied research, the importance of using language in research that is inclusive, and how cocreation can facilitate positive researcher/participant relationships. This dissertation helped people experience outdoor spaces again and share counternarratives to society’s assumptions of severe COPD.
Recommended Citation
McAnirlin, Olivia, "Reflections on Co-creating Nature-Based Virtual Reality Experiences for Adults Living With Severe COPD" (2023). All Dissertations. 3292.
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/3292
Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1321-078X