Games for Health

Carrot not stick.

Almost a year ago, I wrote an article called ‘Games Based Healing’ which featured games that help people learn about illnesses, how to self-heal and more through games.  This article featured games to help those with dementia, autism, cystic fibrosis, depression, stroke, dyslexia and post-traumatic stress disorder.  Since then, I have come across a few more articles about how games are helping people to learn about, cope with and beat health issues.

Depression

Depression featured in our post previously mentioned, however, this great article also argues that games could have great potential to help people with depression.  It lists 3 games/apps: Depression Quest, SPARX and MoodTune which have been developed specifically for people with depression.  The article also discusses a therapist’s use of games in sessions.  She uses them as a therapeutic tool to get children talking and working through their troubles.  A gamer’s perspective is also shared, suggesting that games have positive and negative effects for people suffering from depression, but that games specifically designed to treat depression can be fantastically useful.

Stroke

A game for helping stroke victims recover was also featured in our previous post.  However, a game, Stroke Hero has also been developed to help teach children to recognise the signs of a stroke.  The game has had great success so far.  Click here for more information.

Asthma

Wellapets is a game designed to help children handle their asthma.  The game features a pet dragon which the player must look after, including giving them their inhaler.  It aims to motivate positive behaviour change, reduce stigma, teach about symptoms and how to avoid common triggers.  Read more here.

Autism

Again, Autism featured on the previous list.  However, this article features a list of apps that have been designed to help children on the Autism spectrum to communicate.  There are quite a few apps, some of which are free and some not.

Breast Cancer

Cancer Research UK has developed a game to help them analyse a large amount of genetic data collected from their studies.  The game is called Play to Cure: Genes in Space.  Players are encouraged to go on space missions, but the game environment maps directly to scientific data.  It might be a little difficult to get your head around just how they have managed this, but this sort of innovation is a fantastic use of games and perhaps we’ll see more of it in the future.  Click here to read more.

I hope this emphasises that games can be used in a wide variety of ways and that games based learning is extremely broad.  Games are as varied as any other medium and can be used as such.  And as this post hopefully suggests, games can do a lot of good and help a lot of people.

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15 Articles that Show Gamification is Taking Over our World

Image courtesy of woodleywonderworks on Flickr.

Okay, yes, that title may be a bit of an exaggeration and may make gamification sound like a bad thing (and some of these articles will look at why that could be true).  But the aim of this article, is to show the broad spectrum of uses (and abuses) of gamification, from education and training, to business, healthcare and more.

Gamification of Learning: Education and Training

• Game On? The Use of Gamification in E-Learning 
• What Critics Don’t Understand about Gamified Education 
• Gamification to Encourage Learner Autonomy 
• How Gamification Results in 21st Century Learning 
• NSA Gamifies Surveillance Training: Ethical or Questionable? 

Gamification of Business

• Gamification is the Best Way to Engage Consumers Say Experts 
• 5 Gamification Lessons from J.C. Penney’s Sales Failure 
• Playing to Win: Mobile Gamification Done Right 
• The Future of Loyalty is in Big Data and Gamification 
• Beyond the Hype: 5 Ways That Big Companies are Using Gamification 

Gamification of Healthcare

• The Game Changer: Gaming in Healthcare 
• Food for Thought: Is Gamification Viable for Rewarding Blood Donations? 
• Brain-Training Video Games May Help Reverse Cognitive Decline in Old Age 

Gamification of Making the World a Better Place

• The Future of Gamification Lies in Civic Engagement 
• Top 10 Social Gamification Examples that will Literally Save the World 

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Gamification Blog: 5 Excellent Articles

Earlier this week, I came across a blog, which is operated by Technology Advice.  They have several blog topics, one of which is gamification and they have a great selection of articles for you to get your teeth stuck into.  I have highlighted a couple below that are particularly interesting and introduced them briefly, just to whet your appetite.

1. The Debate: Gamification and Education - Discusses the positives (e.g. focus and planning skills and personalised instruction) and negatives (e.g. expensive and limited content) of gamification being used in education.
2. Not Just Fun and Games: 5 Uncommon Applications of Gamification - Includes making customer support fun, promoting social welfare and more.
3. Gamifying Healthcare: A New Trend - How gamification is being used in healthcare (in workplaces, not just hospitals) including results such as a 50% drop in smoking prevalence.  For more information on how games can improve health (Cystic Fibrosis, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Dyslexia, Depression and more), see ‘Games Based Healing’.
4. Gamification Fostering Workplace Competition - Discusses the pros and cons that workplace competition could bring to the organisation and its employees.  Pros include productivity, profits and team competition and camaraderie.  Cons include stress, sore winners and losers and reduction of team spirit.
5. Big Data, A Side Effect of Gamification - A less discussed aspect of gamification but one which pixelfountain (the company which brings you this blog) is very interested in.  Gamification produces a huge amount of data, which can offer insights into employee or consumer behaviour.  This knowledge can be very useful and potentially profitable.

For more interesting gamification articles from Technology Advice (about 12 in total), visit http://technologyadvice.com/gamification-blog/.

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