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Virtual Home Simulation (VHS)

A skills training package from VSWT, designed to strengthen child welfare skills using immersive technology.

What is the Virtual Home Simulation (VHS)?

VHS provides users with the opportunity to practice identifying possible risk and protective factors/capacities that may be observed during a home visit. Participants are given immediate, expert-based feedback, allowing them to hone their assessment skills in a safe, repeatable environment.

The homes within VHS are real, not animated, providing a realistic range of typical environments a social worker might encounter. This tool is not only for frontline protection workers but also for trainers, supervisors, mentors, and administrators. It's designed to track performance over time, showing participants how they are progressing toward competence.

VHS simmons stove

Key features

Immersive Environments
Practice in a range of real-world home environments, accessible via a virtual reality headset or standard PC.
Expert-Based Feedback
Receive immediate feedback on your assessment decisions, comparing your performance against an expert consensus profile.
Deliberate Practice
Designed to help you master skills through repetition, with structured exercises that build from basic to advanced.

Current Skills Modules

Our current Skills Modules in the VHS software include the following:

Assessing risk and assessing for possible protective capacities of the caregivers
Ensuring worker safety
Suicide assessment and safety planning
Structured Decision Making (SDM) ...with more Skills Modules to come.

Learning Modes

  • The default mode for flexible, self-guided practice. Users can practice in multiple homes at their own pace. Expert feedback is provided at the end of each session.
  • Used for assessing performance gains and enabling an assessment of skill acquisition after training.
  • This structured mode is designed for beginners and will provide immediate feedback on every item a participant interacts with in the home, helping to efficiently learn how to assess for risk and protection.