A virtual rehabilitation program after amputation: a phenomenological exploration.
OBJECTIVE
This study provides an analysis of bodily experiences of a man with a lower leg amputation who used a virtual rehabilitation program.


METHODS
The study reports data from semi-structured interviews with a 32-year veteran who used a virtual environment during rehabilitation. The interviews were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA).


RESULTS
During this rehabilitation program, he initially experienced his body as an object, which he had to handle carefully. As he went along with the training sessions, however, he was more stimulated to react directly without being aware of the body's position. In order to allow himself to react spontaneously, he needed to gain trust in the device. This was fostered by his narrative, in which he stressed how the device mechanically interacts with his movements.


CONCLUSIONS
The use of a virtual environment facilitated the process of re-inserting one's body into the flow of one's experience in two opposite, but complementary ways: (1) it invited this person to move automatically without taking into account his body; (2) it invited him to take an instrumental or rational view on his body. Both processes fostered his trust in the device, and ultimately in his body.


CONCLUSIONS
Providing (more) technological explanation of the technological device (i.e. the virtual environment), may facilitate a rehabilitation process. Providing (more) explicit technological feedback, during training sessions in a virtual environment, may facilitate a rehabilitation process.
Department of Medical Humanities, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center , Amsterdam , The Netherlands .
Marloes
M
Moraal
Jenny
J
Slatman
Toine
T
Pieters
Agali
A
Mert
Guy
G
Widdershoven
D000328:Adult; D000673:Amputation, Traumatic / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D001186:Artificial Limbs; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D007869:Leg Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008297:Male; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology*; D014728:Veterans; D063367:Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation*