Help Me Help Myself - Using Play to Empower Players and Motivate Pro-Health Behavior
Elena Bertozzi
Associate Professor, Game Design & DevelopmentQuinnipiac University
Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Director, The Engender Games Group Lab
Evolution Early attempts – Overstated potential
and efficacy - Mathblaster Lack of rigorous outcomes assessment Underestimation of cost and utility Generally negative perception of
videogames
Swing of Pendulum Success of Foldit, Eyewire, growth of
different models of game use Games for Health, Games for Change,
Serious Games, etc. conferences and journals
Jane McGonigal – Games can change the world/ Jukko
That Dragon Cancer
Lessons Learned
Narrow focused Goals
Game mechanics and rewards must reinforce desired behavior change.
Design assessment into structure
Assessments should be integrated into game structure and iteratively tested during development
Collaborations with practitioners dealing with intractable problems
EGG + Dr. Dilys Walker, founder of Pronto International — Emergency Birth Game
Field test with midwives in rural Mexico
Midwives in Morelos, Mexico
Develop a game to increase flu vaccination rates in immigrant and lower income pediatric patients
EGG + Dr. Leonard Krilovat Children's Medical Center at Winthrop University Hospital on Long Island
Flu Busters!
Flu Busters!Explain how the vaccine works and motivate kids to get the shot.
Some work is being done to train HCW :
Similar issues – measurable outcomes
no iterative testing on target populationonly 27% of children demonstrated increased understanding of vaccine82% of those who played the game got vaccinated the same dayHistorically only 42% of same population got vaccine.
Hot! Horny! Healthy!(funded by Grand Challenges in Global Health)
– IOS, Android phone issues
Communication with platform
Explicit content Players seeking
different goals than researchers
Model works and is very motivating
Start with technology
Lessons Learned
Have it Her Way and Friends Don’t Let Friends-get Knocked-Up
Path to a successful game collaboration
Clear definition of goals: specific outcomes, type of behavior change, scope of project, technology required for distributing game, gathering data, publishing results.
Let the game team develop the game: iterative testing at numerous stages to determine cultural appropriateness (content, language and delivery), if the game is compelling, and ensure network for distribution works.
Members of target audience should be involved from the beginning of the process. Testing should be with representative sample. Clarify how participants will be recruited and how they will be able to access and play game.
Expect problems – they are inevitable
Budgets – Low Cost Interventions Academic setting allows us to use
student/ faculty teams and resources 2D graphics – shorter development
cycle, easier to modify in response to feedback
Create using Unity or HTML5 for widespread deployment all devices
New opportunities for integration with gamification.
Budgets
Small phone games can be developed for $20,000 + based on complexity of interactions
Midwife training game was ca. $30,000 HHH grant was a $100,000 award included
teams on 3 continents Games are not necessarily the best solution to
the problem so it is important to assess whether or not the problem can be approached this way.
Resources Graafland, M., Dankbaar, M., Mert, A., Lagro, J., De Wit-Zuurendonk, L., Schuit, S., …
Schijven, M. (2014). How to Systematically Assess Serious Games Applied to Health Care. JMIR Serious Games, 2(2), e11
Francesco Ricciardi and Lucio Tommaso De Paolis, “A Comprehensive Review of Serious Games in Health Professions,” International Journal of Computer Games Technology, vol. 2014, Article ID 787968, 11 pages, 2014. doi:10.1155/2014/787968
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