Co-Creating Culturally Meaningful Virtual Reality with Indigenous Community Partners and Its Introduction in an Acute Hospital Environment

Background: Hospitalized Indigenous older adults experience separation from family, community, culture, and familiar environments. Virtual reality (VR) can offer comfort but is rarely developed in partnership with Indigenous older adults, risking content that reproduces dominant assumptions about what is meaningful, appropriate, or beneficial. This study co-creates culturally meaningful VR content with Indigenous older adults in long-term care (LTC) and examines its introduction into an acute hospital environment. Methods: Three Indigenous research team members first led iterative sessions with four Indigenous LTC residents (aged 71–90 years) focused on relationship-building, stories, and cultural perspectives, informing selection of cultural belongings from an Anthropology Museum’s Indigenous collections. The team then developed eight VR videos and an interactive experience, iteratively revised with Indigenous partners and residents, which were introduced to 26 older adult hospital patients (4 Indigenous, 22 non-Indigenous; aged 71–90 years) for feedback. We analyzed data generated throughout the co-creation process, the hospital viewing sessions, and weekly team meetings using reflexive thematic analysis. Results: Three themes were identified. Theme 1, “Co-Creation as a Relational Space,” addresses how co-creation enabled Indigenous older adults to share, interpret, and connect experiences. Theme 2, “Indigenous Older Adults Shaped What Became Immersive,” reveals how iterative engagement enabled partners to influence, challenge, and extend the developing content. Theme 3, “Culturally Meaningful VR Created Opportunities for Connection and Storytelling in Hospital,” addresses how patients experienced VR and the possibilities identified for culturally meaningful storytelling in acute care. Conclusions: Working relationally and iteratively with Indigenous older adults shifted VR development from designing content for Indigenous patients toward creating content with Indigenous partners. Co-creation supported cultural relevance and created a relational space for storytelling and learning.