Poster can be found in location 84.

Background: Person-centred care (PCC) is based on ethical principles by which a contractual agreement is formed involving the patient as an active partner in the care and decision-making process [1]. As we strived to attain a high usability of this project, we used a participatory design (PD), which gave a possibility to empower the users by involving them in the design and artefacts (Spinuzzi, 2005). The method draws on the users `tacit knowledge´- i.e. their implicit or unarticulated knowledge learned and transmitted through experience and apprenticeship e.g. by taking part in this project. Research investigating Virtual Reality (VR) calm rooms in psychiatric settings present that VR environments have shown potential to induce well-being and is a self-management tool for several mental health conditions[2-4]. VR technology is appreciated by users [5] and has become increasingly widespread in psychiatric care [6]. This study therefore aims to elucidate patients’ experience and evaluate a VR calm room that was developed using a PD involving patient representatives in the developing process. Method: This study is part of a research project aimed to explore the effect of a VR and physical calm room in psychiatric inpatient care in Sweden. Data consisting of 30 individual interviews and n=59 evaluations questionnaire. The development of the VR intervention took place in 2019 and the collection of data has been ongoing since 2022. Results: Final results of patients’ experiences will be presented at the conference. Conclusion: To meet today's demands on accessible and efficient care it is important to develop new methods to facilitate the feeling of participation. There is also a relation between people’s expectations, their opinion about the process of the intervention and the outcome, therefore it is of importance to include users in the design process. For the interpretation of the results of an intervention, the users’ expectations and experiences of the intervention needs to be elucidated and investigated. PCC using VR calm rooms designed with user involvement could be one way to meet the demand and provide support for people with mental illness.