From tears and fear – to smiles and joy. With the help of VR headsets, frightening blood tests and injections are being turned into positive experiences for children in Region Halland. The results now show that the technology works far better than anyone expected.

When 12-year-old Siri broke her arm this summer and needed an injection before surgery, she got to try something completely new. With a VR headset on her nose, she found herself in another world – a world where her fear of needles disappeared.

– It felt like a relief, like maybe it was going to be better, says Siri. You kind of knew in the back of your head that you were going to get a shot, but it wasn’t what you were seeing in front of you. So I barely noticed it. When the staff said it was over, I just wanted to keep playing.

A relief for parents

For Siri’s mother, Peggy Lindö – who also works as a project coordinator at Leap for Life (Halland’s health innovation arena) at Halmstad University and has been involved in the project – the experience was transformative.

– It was absolutely amazing. Like a miracle. Magic,” says Peggy. She had broken her arm once before, two or three years earlier, and back then it took forever. We practically had to hold her down – it was such an unpleasant experience. This time, it was like two completely different worlds.

An innovation project with real impact

Behind this technology is a collaboration between Region Halland, Leap for Life (Halland’s health innovation arena), and a Danish company that developed the VR solution together with hospitals in Copenhagen. Peter Uppman, innovation strategist at Region Halland, explains how the project began:

– We got in touch with a company in Copenhagen that had developed this solution. They had already tested it at many hospitals in Denmark. We decided to bring them here and let them present the solution to nurses at the pediatric clinics in Halmstad and Varberg.

When the nurses gathered, it quickly became clear that there was a great need.

– There are so many children who are afraid of needles in our care units – we meet them every day. We don’t have that many tools to use – numbing patches and soap bubbles for distraction, for example. But that doesn’t always help, explains Peter.

Testing across the region

During 2025, Region Halland has been testing the VR headsets at pediatric clinics in Varberg, Halmstad, and Kungsbacka, as well as at five healthcare centers. The results are consistently measurable:

– The results are fantastic. The feedback we’ve received so far – from the children, their parents, and the staff – is overwhelmingly positive. You can really see that this makes a difference, says Peter.

Children Who Actually Want to Come Back

One of the most striking effects is how the children’s attitudes have changed.

– The children are happy when they leave – much happier than before – and they actually think it’s fun to come back, Peter says.

In some places, the technology is even being tested on children who aren’t getting injections, simply to give them a positive experience of their visit. For the staff, the change is also enormous:

– The staff no longer need to resort to medication or, in the worst cases, anesthesia to calm children. For very needle-phobic kids, we can replace that with technology instead – something that doesn’t harm anyone. That’s amazing, says Peter.