Mobile Gaming for Better HealthLeveraging mobile gaming to create immersive learning experiences and reinforce desired behaviors for health improvement.

mHealth Summit December 2012Michael FergussonAyogo Health

75 million adults in the U.S. use mobile phones for

health information

Cybercitizen Health and

Manhattan Research

By 2016 there will be 173 million US mobile gamers

eMarketer Mobile, Social

Boost Online Gaming

Populations

53% of smartphone owners play games daily on their

phone.

Nielsen Mobile Media

Report

41% of Nigerian cellphones are smartphones.

1 in 5 Africa-wide.African Telcom News

“If patient engagement were a drug, it would be the

blockbuster drug of the century and malpractice not to use it.”

Leonard Kish, a health IT

strategy consultant

• Infographic from Kelly• Cost of noncompliance.

Games and play psychology can be an important part of

the solution

How?

Games are Engagement

Engines

Games are Context Management

Systems

Games Captivate

Games Motivate

Games Engage

a mobile diabetes management game integrated with Facebook that encourages

healthy living

Mission metaphor turns adherence

into a social, healthy game

“Social challenge” invitations

motivate behavior

HealthSeeker

Some data-mined results:

• Users with more than 10 friends complete almost 5 times as many missions as others.

• Users who have used any of the social features have completed 3 times as many missions, and played the game 8 times as long as others.

• Users who have sent challenges complete 6 times as many missions as others.

a mobile game for families living with childhood diabetes

Monster Manor

• Target audience: children with T1 diabetes, ages 6-14, and their families

• User Behaviour Goals: • Test blood glucose a minimum of 5 times a

day; • Report blood glucose in mobile tracking

tool

Monster Manor Objectives

Support children in managing their diabetesGive parents ease of mind that children are testing and logging while away from themGive parents and clinicians a mechanism to acknowledge and reward the children

An incentive economy

Our approach

• How virtual currencies work• Developing an incentive economy• Game play opportunities• Points and achievements • Social rewards

Respect the serious needs of the patient and caregiver

While respecting the child

Who has “serious” needs, too

…they’re immediately rewarded with a piñata

Smash piñatas, collect monster “ingredients”, combine to unlock new monsters…

Immediate alerts come through SMS, email, or application alerts…

…and lets your kid be a kid!

http://ayogo.com : @ayogohealth : info@ayogo.com

Michael Fergusson: michael@ayogo.com

@fergussson

Thank You!