Proposal

Narrative

With a decrease in mental health among college student students nationally, we are looking for ways to improve mental health, and decrease stress, anxiety, and depression among FAU students. When students are dealing with mental health concerns, their academic success, including their ability to focus, study, retain information, becomes compromised. Mindfulness, meditation, and biofeedback are current modalities used for treatment of mental health. They are also very user friendly and can be done independently with the assistance of technology. In order to provide spaces for self-guided mental wellness, many counseling centers are building relaxation rooms. This proposal is to add Virtual Reality (VR) mindfulness and biofeedback equipment to the relaxation room that will be built at CAPS this summer (and in CAPS offices in Davie and Jupiter). The relaxation room and VR equipment would be available for all registered students to use and would be present for years to come. While we know every eligible student would not use the equipment, we would advertise the space to all students and create an easy system for them to access the room. The room will have 8 relaxation spaces, so it could be used by up to 8 students at a time. CAPS therapists would also refer clients to use specific programs as part of their treatment protocol. CAPS has between 700-1,000 students per semester come into the center, who would see the space each time they entered. Data supports the use of VR for mindfulness. The adherence to a mindfulness based VR program was 25% higher than ones that did not utilize VR. There is also a 22% greater reduction of stress in participants who used VR programs compared to non VR programs (Madrego-Alarcon et al., 2021). Therefore, it is likely that students would be drawn to the room and return more for future use than if we had iPad based meditation programs.

Facilities

CAPS is currently going through an expansion (health fee funded), as we need additional space to meet the therapeutic needs of students. A part of this expansion includes a relaxation room where CAPS clients and the general student body can come to engage in relaxation and wellness practices such as meditation, yoga, biofeedback, and reflection. The equipment would be utilized in this room. In order to support students on partner campuses, we would add headsets to the CAPS offices on the Jupiter and Davie campuses. The CAPS Davie office already has a relaxation room where the headset would be used. The CAPS Jupiter office has a group room and a zoom room where the VR headsets would be used.

Hardware Requirements

We would purchase 10 Meta Quest 3 VR headsets at the price of $550 each. We would keep 8 on the Boca Raton campus, 1 in CAPS Jupiter, and 1 in CAPS Davie. We would also need to purchase charging docs for each, at a price of approximately $75 each. To minimize disruption to others in the room, we would need to purchase 10 sets of Logitech G333 VR gaming earphones at approximately $25 each. In order to offer multiple means of relaxation, and enhance the biofeedback experience, we would place 3 massage chairs in the relaxation room. We have looked at the MassaMax Massage Chair at the cost of about $2,000 each.

Software Requirements

We propose utilizing Amelia XR Health software, as this offers versatility in protocols. The program allows students to do mindfulness and meditation practices independently, as well as therapist led exposure protocols, that would act as a supplement to therapy at CAPS. While the exposure protocols would only be available to clients of CAPS, and facilitated by therapists, all students at FAU would be able to utilize mindfulness and meditation practices within CAPS during normal hours of operation. This company previously had biofeedback integrated into their program, but had to revise the technology. They are bringing this feature back in the near future, which we would want to make a part of our offerings. The cost for the platform each month is approximately $400 ($4800 annually). Because the Meta Quest 3 supports many apps and software, we would add on other VR apps to increase options for students. We have an interest in the following apps with a 1 time purchase -TRIPP $34.99 x10 devices is $350 -Guided Meditation VR $14.99 x 10 devices is $150 -Nature Treks VR $9.99 x10 devices is $100

Personnel Costs

There are no personnel costs for this project. We have program assistants at our front desk during times the center is open. In order to keep the VR headsets secure and maintained, students will need to ask program assistants to check one out and provide their ID for check out. The program assistants will be able to absorb the check in/out process into their roles.

Other Costs

n/a

Timeline

CAPS is in the final stages of architectural drawings for the expansion, including the relaxation room. The plan is for construction to take place this summer and have the newly renovated center and relaxation room open and operational for the Fall 2024 semester. Upon opening of the renovated center, we would need to get equipment connected and ensure it is functioning properly and then would be available for student use (anticipated October, 2024). There is no end date to this project, as the relaxation room will remain a feature of the center for years to come and we will continue to provide resources for students to engage in wellness practices.

Sustainability

The project requires a larger initial investment to purchase massage chairs, VR headsets, and software for mindfulness/biofeedback. Many of the apps are a 1 time purchase. However, we may have $5000 of recurring funds for a more integrated VR therapy program. If we find significant therapeutic benefits with our students, we will absorb the cost into CAPS operating budget after the tech fee funding has expired.

Resource Matching

n/a

Implementing Organization

Counseling and Psychological Services will be implementing the project. We would work closely with Student Affairs IT for set up and technical support on this project, as well as relying on technical support from hardware and software vendors.