Founded in 2004, the Games for Health Project supports community, knowledge and business development efforts to use cutting-edge games and game technologies to improve health and health care. The Games for Health Conference brings together researchers, medical professionals and game developers to share information about the impact of games, playful interaction and game technologies on health, health care and policy. Over two days, more than 400 attendees participate in over 60 sessions provided by an international array of 80+ speakers, cutting across a wide range of activities in health and health care. Topics include exergaming, physical therapy, disease management, health behavior change, biofeedback, rehab, epidemiology, training, cognitive health, nutrition and health education.
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The design of health game rewards for preadolescents Videogames are a promising strategy for child health interventions, but their impact can vary depending on the game mechanics used. This study investigated achievement-based ‘rewards’ and their design among preadolescents (8-12 years) to assess their effect and explain how they work. In a 2 (game reward achievement system: social vs. personal) x 2 (game reward context: in-game vs. out-game) between-subjects design, 178 children were randomly assigned to one of four conditions. Findings indicated that a ‘personal’ achievement system (showing one’s own high scores) led to more attention and less frustration than a ‘social’ achievement system (showing also high scores of others) which, in turn, increased children’s motivation to make healthy food choices. Furthermore, ‘out’-game rewards (tangible stickers allocated outside the game environment) were liked more than ‘in’-game rewards (virtual stickers allocated in the game environment), leading to greater satisfaction and, in turn, a higher motivation to make healthy food choices.
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In September 2010, Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen (the Netherlands) started a 20-week international program titled GameOn! The object of this program is for students to develop serious games, that aim to help the youth become aware of social and/or health related issues. Since the start of GameOn! students have worked on a number of different projects, all related to education through the use of interactive media. Topics were malaria, hiv/aids and personal hygiene. In all these projects, specific knowledge about the target region, domain knowledge of the subject of the game, and the target group was brought in by specialists and local representatives. The lessons drawn, in development and production, from these projects are: 1. The importance of an agile game development method that allows for regular testing, feedback moments and changes. 2. The importance of a user/player centred design and the context of playful experiences. 3. Cultural awareness in game design and development: consider and adapt to the values and beliefs of the target audience. 4. Collaboration and co-creation with local representatives in game development adds to game acceptance. 5. A very positive attitude towards the use of computers in education in the targeted areas. Addressing and incorporating these aspects into projects may contribute in more effective and adequate (social) health games or, in a broader sense, more effective interactive media applications aimed at facilitating educational learning.
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Founded in 2004, the Games for Health Project supports community, knowledge and business development efforts to use cutting-edge games and game technologies to improve health and health care. The Games for Health Conference brings together researchers, medical professionals and game developers to share information about the impact of games, playful interaction and game technologies on health, health care and policy. Over two days, more than 400 attendees participate in over 60 sessions provided by an international array of 80+ speakers, cutting across a wide range of activities in health and health care. Topics include exergaming, physical therapy, disease management, health behavior change, biofeedback, rehab, epidemiology, training, cognitive health, nutrition and health education.
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Introduction: Given the complexity of teaching clinical reasoning to (future) healthcare professionals, the utilization of serious games has become popular for supporting clinical reasoning education. This scoping review outlines games designed to support teaching clinical reasoning in health professions education, with a specific emphasis on their alignment with the 8-step clinical reasoning cycle and the reflective practice framework, fundamental for effective learning. Methods: A scoping review using systematic searches across seven databases (PubMed, CINAHL, ERIC, PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science, and Embase) was conducted. Game characteristics, technical requirements, and incorporation of clinical reasoning cycle steps were analyzed. Additional game information was obtained from the authors. Results: Nineteen unique games emerged, primarily simulation and escape room genres. Most games incorporated the following clinical reasoning steps: patient consideration (step 1), cue collection (step 2), intervention (step 6), and outcome evaluation (step 7). Processing information (step 3) and understanding the patient’s problem (step 4) were less prevalent, while goal setting (step 5) and reflection (step 8) were least integrated. Conclusion: All serious games reviewed show potential for improving clinical reasoning skills, but thoughtful alignment with learning objectives and contextual factors is vital. While this study aids health professions educators in understanding how games may support teaching of clinical reasoning, further research is needed to optimize their effective use in education. Notably, most games lack explicit incorporation of all clinical reasoning cycle steps, especially reflection, limiting its role in reflective practice. Hence, we recommend prioritizing a systematic clinical reasoning model with explicit reflective steps when using serious games for teaching clinical reasoning.
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Many health education programs use progress tests to evaluate students’ progress in learning and to identify possible gaps in the curricula. The tests are typically longitudinal and feedback-oriented. Although many benefits of the progress test have been described in the literature, we argue that the acclaimed facilitation of deeper learning and better retention of knowledge appear questionable. We therefore propose an innovative way of presenting both the test itself and the study process for the test: a real-time-strategy game with in-game challenges, both individual and in teams.
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To improve retention rate of factual knowledge for health students we set out to design a game which challenges students to continue testing themselves during their studies. Since we intend for them to play this game for at least two years, we had two major challenges to overcome. Firstly, how can students feel motivated to continue playing for two years on end, and secondly, how can enough content be generated for a two-year game play. The first challenge was solved by tapping into a core motivation of health students: many intend to start their own practice and for that, they want to be involved with other practitioners. We, therefore, proposed a sim-type game in which students cannot just practice on virtual patients but also on practitioners logged in as a patient. The second challenge was tackled by building a flexible framework for case collection, and including the production of those cases in the curricula of the involved programmes.
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Wanneer je met je lessen specifieke leerdoelen hebt, zoals tactisch inzicht, regelvaardigheden, of samenwerking, dan hoort daar ook een specifieke aanpak bij. De laatste jaren zijn er in de LO, met name in het buitenland, verschillende modellen ontwikkeld die je hierbij kunnen helpen. Deze aanpak wordt ook wel 'Models-Based Physical Education genoemd”.
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Fysiotherapie en/of manuele therapie spelen een belangrijke rol in de zorg voor mensen met lage rugpijn. Om de kwaliteit van deze zorg te verbeteren is een richtlijn ontwikkeld die vervolgens geïmplementeerd dient te worden. Technologische innovaties zoals serious games kunnen een rol spelen bij de implementatie van deze richtlijn. In een gerandomiseerde gecontroleerde studie is onderzocht in hoeverre een serious game de implementatie van een richtlijn lage rugpijn bevorderd. Achtenveertig fysiotherapeuten/manueel therapeuten zijn at random toegewezen aan een serious game groep of een groep die voorlichting kreeg over de richtlijn. Uitkomstmaten in deze studie zijn de mate van adherentie aan de richtlijn (vignettentoets), ervaren knelpunten van implementatie, de mening van de deelnemer over de wijze van implementeren, en de mate waarin de richtlijn is gelezen en wordt toegepast in de praktijk naar eigen inschatting van de deelnemer. Na zes weken follow-up is er geen significant effect gevonden van de serious game op de mate van adherentie aan de richtlijn (0,4 punten op 100 puntsschaal; 95% betrouwbaarheidsinterval -4,0 tot 4,8) ten opzichte van de voorlichtingsgroep. Ook voor de andere uitkomsten werden geen statistisch significante effecten gevonden. Het introduceren van een serious game had derhalve geen groter effect op de mate van adherentie aan de richtlijn lage rugpijn dan voorlichting.
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IntroductionOver the past years, health games have shown to be an effective method for providing patient-education. At the same time, physical activity as medicine is increasingly popular when stimulating health in patients. Especially for those who are inactive and have a chronic disease, these two methods can even be more effective when combined. This may also be true for children with asthma, for whom physical activity is important to decrease the impact of their asthma. To meet the needs and wishes of these children, their parents, and healthcare providers, this study aims to obtain insight in factors that stimulate physical activity in children with asthma through the concept mapping method. This to ultimately develop a tailored health-game for children with asthma.MethodQualitative data were collected during concept mapping sessions with four groups of 8-11-year old children with asthma (n=25; 40% boy, age mean: 9.6y), two groups of parents (n=17; 29% male; age-range 29-57y, mean: 43.3y) and one group of 20 healthcare providers who received three online meetings (15% male; age-range 25-63y, mean:40.8y). During these sessions, participants generated ideas or solutions to the seeding statement ‘What is needed to increase the physical activity level of inactive children with asthma?’ After checking the complete list of ideas per group on clarity, participants clustered (based on similarity) and rated (score from 1 to 5, based on importance) the ideas individually. Using multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster-analysis one concept map was generated for each group. For this study we received approval of the medical ethics committee of the AMC; all participants signed informed consent.ResultsChildren generated 160 ideas in total and respectively 4, 5, 7 and 10 clusters, parents generated 73 ideas and respectively 5 and 8 clusters, and healthcare providers generated 116 ideas and 13 clusters. The child clusters with the highest importance scores were: positive feelings (mean: 3.9; SD: 1.0), availability of suitable and joyful sports (mean: 3.8; standard deviation [SD]:0.5), and guidance by motivated others (mean: 3.7; SD: 0.6). For parents, the highest-scored clusters were: motivated others (mean: 3.9; SD: 0.3), knowledge about asthma consequences by the child and others (mean: 3.7; SD: 0.6), and child self-confidence (mean: 3.6; SD: 0.7), Health-care providers reported knowledge about asthma by child and others (mean: 4.2; SD: 0.1), the need for motivated parents (mean: 4.2; SD: 0.8), exercise-stimulating environment (mean: 4.1; SD: 0.1), and appropriate asthma-treatment (mean: 4.1; SD: 0.4) as important physical activity stimulating factors in this population. However, some factors cannot be influenced by one person or a health-game. Since knowledge about asthma, self-confidence and positive feelings can be, the focus is on these clusters in the next level process of the study: the designing phase of the health-game.ConclusionPhysical activity stimulation in children with asthma can be influenced by different factors in which knowledge, empowerment and joy seem important factors. To increase physical activity in children with asthma the new health-game will include these factors with high importance.
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