Understanding the Australian disability support sector's workforce to predict the acceptance of virtual reality...

Purpose: In the disability support sector, empathy is a critical skill needed by frontline workers. Virtual Reality technology may enhance empathy. Some disability service providers have adopted Virtual Reality to advance their training practices. Currently, it is unknown how accepting the Australian disability support workforce is of Virtual Reality technology. This study evaluates the internal and external factors that are significant in influencing disability support sector employees' acceptance of Virtual Reality technology. Method: A quantitative study using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was completed by 120 cross-sectional respondents from the Australian disability workforce. Data were collected via an online questionnaire with a Likert scale, and analysed using descriptive statistics, reliability, correlation, and path analysis. Results: The external factors of curiosity, and past use had a significant relationship with the acceptance of virtual reality technology. Conclusion: Understanding factors relating to VR acceptance may facilitate greater adoption of VR training programs aimed to enhance empathetic behaviour in the disability support sector. The current study offers important insight relating to key determinants that facilitate the acceptance of VR technology for the disability services workforce. The five recommendations address the crucial findings - (1) evaluate the level of curiosity, (2) evaluate the level of past use, (3) offer hands-on VR workshops, (4) cultivate a sustainable collaborative design environment around training and technology adoption, and (5) cultivate a sustainable collaborative culture that is informative and fosters innovation.