Before adopting VR cognitive rehabilitation, a service needs more than a good demonstration. It needs a clear pathway. The following checklist is designed for clinicians, service leads, digital teams, and governance colleagues reviewing whether a product such as CorteXR could fit their rehabilitation service.
It is not a substitute for local clinical, information governance, procurement, or safety review. It is a starting point for a more focused conversation.
1. Patient group
Clarify who the pathway is for:
- inpatient stroke rehabilitation
- community stroke rehabilitation
- early supported discharge
- supported home practice
- research or service evaluation
Also define who may not be suitable. Consider cognition, fatigue, vision, balance, communication, anxiety, headset tolerance, and support at home.
2. Rehabilitation goal
Identify the clinical purpose. Is the service trying to support attention, memory, sequencing, visual scanning, confidence, ADL practice, continuity after discharge, or review of functional cognition?
VR is strongest when it supports a defined rehabilitation goal rather than being introduced as a standalone technology project.
3. Activity design
Ask whether the activities are:
- meaningful to patients
- based on recognisable daily tasks
- adjustable in difficulty
- clear enough for cognitive impairment
- safe to stop
- linked to clinical review
For cognitive rehabilitation, task design should support attention, memory, planning, sequencing, and problem-solving without overwhelming the patient.
4. Clinical workflow
Define who will:
- select the patient
- assign activities
- support setup
- observe sessions
- review progress
- adjust difficulty
- respond to support needs
If roles are unclear, even useful technology can become difficult to adopt.
5. Home and helper support
If home use is considered, decide how patients and helpers will understand setup, session length, stopping rules, charging, connectivity, and who to contact if something goes wrong.
Support materials should be short, clear, and easy to find.
6. Governance and assurance
Review clinical evidence, intended use, regulatory status, clinical safety, data protection, cyber security, accessibility, support routes, and deployment responsibilities.
For NHS services, DTAC and clinical safety documentation may be part of the review.
7. Evaluation
Agree what the service will learn from a pilot or deployment. Useful questions include: who used it, who did not, what support was needed, which activities were useful, whether clinicians reviewed the data, and whether patients and helpers found sessions manageable.
Quick review table
| Review area | Question to answer | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Patient selection | Who is suitable, and who is not? | Prevents unsafe or unsupported use |
| Clinical goal | Which cognitive or functional need is being addressed? | Keeps VR tied to rehabilitation rather than technology adoption alone |
| Task grading | Can activities be simplified or progressed? | Matches challenge to ability and fatigue |
| Workflow | Who sets up, reviews, and adjusts practice? | Makes adoption realistic for busy teams |
| Home use | What does the patient or helper need to know? | Reduces avoidable support burden |
| Assurance | What evidence and governance material is available? | Supports procurement and clinical safety review |
| Evaluation | What will the service measure or learn? | Helps decide whether the pathway should continue or scale |
Red flags during review
Be cautious if a provider cannot explain unsuitable patients, stopping rules, support routes, data handling, clinical evidence, or how activities are graded. Be equally cautious if the product is described only as engaging without a clear rehabilitation purpose.
For cognitive rehabilitation, the task should make clinical sense. A virtual activity should help the team observe, practise, grade, or review a meaningful cognitive demand.
Questions to take into a demo
- Can you show how a clinician assigns and grades an activity?
- What does the patient see and do?
- What happens if the patient becomes fatigued or confused?
- What data is available after the session?
- How does the portal support clinical review?
- What support material is available for patients and helpers?
- What assurance material can be shared with governance or procurement teams?
CorteXR next step
If this checklist raises useful questions for your service, request clinical information or review CorteXR for stroke rehabilitation teams. You can also read the clinical evidence summary and clinical governance questions for VR rehabilitation technology.
Useful references
- NICE guideline NG236: Stroke rehabilitation in adults
- DTAC: Digital Technology Assessment Criteria
- National Clinical Guideline for Stroke
- NHS: Stroke recovery
Medical note: This resource is for general information and service planning. Stroke survivors and families should follow advice from their own clinical team.