Mobile and tablet apps, ubiquitous and pervasive computing, wearable computing and domotics for health.

While there is an increasing awareness regarding the culture of humanization, which is strongly needed in the healthcare environment, little knowledge has been provided in relation to accurate strategies to teach humanization skills to healthcare undergraduate students, as well as to healthcare professionals. Furthermore, the usefulness of new technologies to improve humanization skills has hardly been addressed so far in the scientific literature, including promising strategies such as Metaverse-related technologies. Presumably, this is the first systematic review focused on the efficacy of Metaverse-related technologies to increase the acquisition of humanization skills in the healthcare environment. The purpose of this study was to review the scientific studies published in the last decade to answer the following two questions: (1) are Metaverse-related technologies useful in enhancing humanization skills in the healthcare environment? (2) What are the advantages and disadvantages that should be addressed to successfully develop Metaverse-related technologies in the healthcare sector? We conducted a systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature from EBSCO, Ovid, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science (WOS), following the PRISMA statements and using the following keywords: “humanization + Metaverse”; “humanization + mixed reality”; “humanization + extended reality”; “humanization + augmented reality”; “humanization + virtual reality”; “humanization + app”; “humanization + telemedicine”; “humanization + digital health”; “humanization + eHealth”; “humanization + telehealth”; “humanization + web-based”; “humanization + website”; “humanization + digital”; “humanization + online”; and “humanization + internet”. Studies published from 2012 to the present, written in the English language, were reviewed. A total of 505 records were obtained, of which three were selected based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The results will be helpful in developing new strategies to improve humanization skills in the health sphere.

The use of avatars in the psychological treatment of some chronic diseases is in their infancy, and it represents a growing field of research with many possibilities for innovation. However, there is a lack of studies seeking to determine if avatar-based therapies could improve mental health in chronic care settings. In fact, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first systematic review addressing this research topic. The objectives of this study were to review the scientific literature on those studies involving avatar-based therapies for chronic patients, as well as different ways to develop them and their efficacy on mental health outcomes. Two main questions were addressed: (1) Are avatar-based strategies useful to improve mental health in chronic patients? (2) Which is the best way to develop avatar-based strategies regarding chronic diseases? A systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature was conducted in March 2021. The results were, not only useful for establishing suitable ways to develop avatar-based strategies to improve mental health in chronic care, but also for providing an ad hoc taxonomy regarding this research topic. Five modalities were established according to technological complexity and avatar presentation. Most of the studies were effective (61.1%) in enhancing mental health in chronic care.

The landscape of Extended Reality (ER), which includes Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR) is rapidly changing. However, despite the promising results from many randomized controlled trials (RCTs) developed on healthcare environments, there is a lack of standardization, specifically to determine their effectiveness in academic settings. To our best knowledge, this is the first systematic review addressing the efficacy of MR to enhance learning and skills acquisition in undergraduate mental health education. The purposes of this study were to review the scientific literature of those studies involving MR and undergraduate mental health education, to answer the two following questions: (1) Is MR useful to enhance the acquisition of knowledge and skill training in undergraduate mental health education, and (2) Which are the advantages and disadvantages that should be addressed to successfully develop MR in undergraduate mental health education? We conducted a systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature from EBSCO, Ovid, PubMed, and Scopus y WOS (Web of Science), following the PRISMA statements and using “mixed reality + education”, “mixed reality + student”, “mixed reality + undergraduate”, and “mixed reality + mental health”, as keywords. Those studies published between 2012 to present, in English or Spanish language, were reviewed. A total of 2608 records were retrieved, and only 6 publications met the inclusion criteria, and were finally included. MR training used was varied. There were no studies providing specific outcomes regarding the student’s acquired knowledge (theoretical concepts) after using MR. Several strengths and weaknesses of using MR with students were discussed. The results will be useful to develop innovative MR strategies to improve undergraduate mental health education, due to the lack of studies focused on this topic.

Objectives: The need to incentivize the humanization of healthcare providers coincides with the development of a more technological approach to medicine, which gives rise to depersonalization when treating patients. Currently, there is a culture of humanization that reflects the awareness of health professionals, patients, and policy makers, although it is unknown if there are university curricula incorporating specific skills in humanization, or what these may include. Therefore, the objectives of this study are as follows: (1) to identify what type of education in humanization is provided to university students of Health Sciences using digital technologies; and (2) determine the strengths and weaknesses of this education. The authors propose a curriculum focusing on undergraduate students to strengthen the humanization skills of future health professionals, including digital health strategies. Methods: A systematic review, based on the scientific literature published in EBSCO, Ovid, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, over the last decade (2012–2022), was carried out in November 2022. The keywords used were “humanization of care” and “humanization of healthcare” combined both with and without “students”. Results: A total of 475 articles were retrieved, of which 6 met the inclusion criteria and were subsequently analyzed, involving a total of 295 students. Three of them (50%) were qualitative studies, while the other three (50%) involved mixed methods. Only one of the studies (16.7%) included digital health strategies to train humanization. Meanwhile, another study (16.7%) measured the level of humanization after training. Conclusions: There is a clear lack of empirically tested university curricula that combine education in humanization and digital technology for future health professionals. Greater focus on the training of future health professionals is needed, in order to guarantee that they begin their professional careers with the precept of medical humanities as a basis.