When All Else Fails, Try Fun: Games Invade Health Care

Background: Health professionals have been skeptical of video games due to concerns like encouraging sedentary behavior, obesity, and diabetes. But video game technology can be harnessed to discourage harmful health behaviors and encourage healthy lifestyles.  

Program background: This presentation examines that characteristics of video game technology that can be used to create compelling experiences that drive users to proactively seek out information, retain learning, and master difficult concepts.  It describes the ways that video games are already promoting behavior change in non-health settings, and how that same technology and design considerations can be harnessed for improving healthy behaviors. It distinguishes between "gamification" of a non-game application and a product with gameplay at its core.

Evaluation Methods and Results: By the end of the presentation participants will be able to list the ways that the compulsive aspects of video game technology can be used to enhance health education, identify how video game design can affect behavior change, and distinguish between "gamification" of a non-game application and a product with gameplay at its core.

Conclusions: Game design and technology can be effective in compelling learning and behavior change.

Implications for research and/or practice: Participants can add gaming factors to their work, or reconceptualize work to incorporate compelling aspects of gameplay from the ground up.