Coming up: launch IPS Leiden - thursday 13 april

The festive opening of the Center for Interdisciplinary Placebo Studies (IPS) Leiden and the launch of our innovative VR communication training for healthcare providers will take place on Thursday, April 13.

At Leiden University, high-level research has been conducted for a number of years into placebo and nocebo effects and the role of expectations within clinical practice. With this new knowledge center we want to create a platform to make the available expertise on scientific research into placebo and nocebo effects and their applications widely accessible. The aim is to increase the visibility of current and future knowledge in the field of placebo and nocebo effects. We also aim to widely implement applications of placebo and nocebo effects in clinical practice and in this way to even better disseminate the interdisciplinary expertise in the field of placebo and nocebo effects to society.

As an important first step, we have developed a clinical application in the knowledge center together with the Institute for Responsible Medicine Use and the Simulation Crew: a communication training for healthcare providers to promote treatment effects. During this training, healthcare providers learn how to optimize placebo effects and minimize nocebo effects through communication using an E-learning and Virtual Reality tool.

During the opening, the training will be demonstrated and future plans for the knowledge center will be explained. There is also the opportunity to experience the Virtual Reality tool yourself.