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We describe a five-month pilot project conducted in the dialysis unit at Boston's Children's Hospital. Pediatric patients with renal disease used the Zora graphical multi-user environment while facing hemodialysis. Zora is an identity construciton environment specifically designed to help young people explore issues of identity, while engaging in a participatory virtual community. This paper presents the experience and evaluates the feasibility and safety of using Zora in a hospital setting. It describes how Zora facilitated explorations of identity and mutual patient support and interaction. Finally it also presents design recommendations for future interventions of this kind. More generally, this paper explores the potential of technology specifically designed with therapeutic purposes to help patients cope with their illness.
Bers et al. (Thu,) studied this question.
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