Our Blog | IKONA Health

Meet Joanna.

Joanna is a 35-year old mother of two. Her oldest, Aiden is in middle school, and her youngest, Henry is in elementary school. Joanna is a Marketing Director at a medium sized business in the Midwest.

Like all Americans (and many across the globe), Joanna’s life changed drastically in the early months of 2020 with the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. She went from recovering from the winter holidays and planning a family trip during Spring Break, to sheltering in place with her spouse and children.

Using Virtual Reality To Support Mental Health, Wellness and Resilience

Meet Jose

Jose is a forty-three year old military veteran who has had ongoing issues with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, social isolation, and addiction since leaving the service nearly two years ago. He struggles with anxiety in social settings, and sometimes finds it difficult to leave the house. He currently sees a therapist once a week. He likes his therapist, and always feels much better following a therapy session, but he frequently struggles between sessions. He wishes there was a way to find additional relief when he feels the need and without having to leave his home— a program that would allow him to reduce his anxiety and relieve his stress would be ideal. He has tried audio tapes and meditation on his own but neither has proven to be very engaging and he still struggles to remain focused.

Consider any one of the thousands of individuals who visit their doctor annually and are informed that they need to undergo some medical procedure. It could be a routine procedure like a colonoscopy, or a non-routine procedure like having a cancerous tumor removed. Anytime a patient must undergo a medical procedure there are a number of pre-operative, perioperative, and post-discharge steps that must be followed. Often patients must alter their diets and physical activities prior to (and following) a procedure. Once admitted to the clinic or hospital on the day of the procedure, the patient follows a number of well-defined, sequential steps to prepare for what’s next. Understanding risks associated with a procedure, receiving medications and anesthesia administered by a care team, and undertaking the actual procedure are each a critical part of the whole patient perioperative experience. And no matter how many times a patient might have faced such an intervention before, the unfamiliar environment combined with the inherent complexities and gravitas of personal health leads to significant stress and anxiety.