3 More Ways Gamification in Healthcare is Making a Difference

Simulation and Interaction Learning

One PharmExec.com piece “Gamification Grows Up” illustrates one current project by Syandus, “a small experiential learning agency” in Pennsylvania. Created for two large pharmaceutical companies, their COPD (short for obstructive pulmonary disease) simulation software does some remarkable things:

• It allows doctors to create and control a “virtual patient” and even control variables by inserting actual medical record information.
• It has tweaking tools for environmental variables and shows how a particular patient would respond “on a deep physiological level.”
• It allows introduction of drug therapy or see how the patient’s condition could be affected by smoking fewer cigarettes per day, for example.

The unprecedented interactivity allows the doctor to show patients how their behavior has a direct effect on their condition.

Health Insurers Embracing Gamification

According to BusinessInsider, One Minnesota-based insurer launched a gamification app with UnitedHealthcare called OptumizeMe. This app encourages fitness-related contests among friends. They have another game undergoing testing and development, Join For Me, that targets overweight adolescents at risk for developing diabetes and promotes physical activities like dancing for maintaining good health.

Managing Chronic Illness with Fun

Diabetes is no fun, but there are companies like GameMetrix Solutions who are inventing entertaining platforms based on other classic games – Solitaire and Jeopardy, for example – with the goal of managing those illnesses. The idea is to pull the patients into the games using tested and familiar game mechanics with a very low learning curve.

Back in 2007 GameMetrix came up with a game for diabetics that was based on the popular Trivial Pursuit. The response was stunning as over 3,000 patients began playing the game “regularly, with very little marketing.”

What’s the Future of Gamification in Healthcare?

According to Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness, gamification in health care “isn’t the future – It’s now”.Watch their presentation with a panel of experts, who discuss how gamification has exploded in the healthcare sector.

The state of health in the United States has been less than favorable for most people but the advances of gamification in healthcare will make great strides in making our therapeutic experiences significantly better as we improve our healthcare system.

Flickr Image by Christiana Care