The Orlando VA Healthcare System has piloted a virtual reality training programme to help employees recognise and respond to Veterans who may be at risk of suicide. It is aimed at staff who are not mental health professionals but regularly interact with Veterans, and is part of a national VA pilot.
Suicide Prevention Supervisor and Lead Coordinator Dr. Lex Velasquez said many employees see Veterans every day without formal mental health training, and that the pilot was designed to bridge that gap.
How the training works
After putting on a headset, employees find themselves in a virtual recreation of the Orlando VA Medical Center lobby. A routine conversation with a Veteran gradually reveals signs of emotional distress. Participants must listen actively, build rapport and choose how to respond, while the software captures their answers and gives real-time feedback.
The programme is described as immersive and interactive, in contrast with classroom instruction or traditional role-play. Customer Value Partners, in a LinkedIn post, says it supports the VA in piloting the Fifer-powered programme, which it says includes real-time AI coaching and feedback. Each session runs about an hour, including equipment orientation, and is framed as a learning opportunity rather than a graded test.
Pilot and feedback
Orlando is one of several pilot sites. A LinkedIn post about the project names Asheville, Chillicothe, Biloxi and Cleveland as the other participating sites, and describes the work as developing, testing and iterating a new VR-based training.
The VA reports strongly positive participant feedback. Many participants were struck by how realistic the Veteran character felt, and recognising the Orlando VA lobby as the opening setting added to the authenticity. Velasquez said participants empathised well throughout, and she was surprised by the accuracy of the live captioning and by how comfortably employees of all ages adapted to the equipment. As a pilot site, Orlando VA recommended expanding the software with additional scenarios across different clinical settings.
