Five Impactful Experiences From Games For Change 2016

Highlights From This Year’s Games For Change Last week, Games For Change had their 13th annual festival at the New School’s Parsons School of Design. New to the festival this year were three featured tracks participants could focus on: the Games for Learning Summit; health and neuroscience; and civics and social change. Gamification.Co was lucky enough to attend,…

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Gamifying Asthma Inhalers For Kids with Gecko Health

As the delivery of health care becomes more digitized, it’s no surprise that medical devices that historically had no electronic components are now available with digital capabilities. An attachment to an inhaler, for example, brings the ability to track doses. But the challenge for any medication continues to be getting patients, particularly children, to use these products when they’re supposed to and just as they’re prescribed. One medical device developer is overcoming that problem by bringing games into the delivery of health care.

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My Health, My Choice: Enlightening The Impact of Healthcare Cost

It’s hard to go a day without hearing news about the rising cost of health care. Prescription drugs are getting more expensive and health insurance rates are on an annual march upward. By and large, patients have little understanding about the financial pressures that are behind those costs. One company is taking a new approach to try to improve the public’s understanding of health care costs. Astellas Pharmaceuticals has turned the delicate balance of cost management into a game called My Health, My Choice.

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AssessMs: Diagnosing Multiple Sclerosis with Microsoft’s Kinect

When Microsoft introduced its Kinect motion-sensing camera, the technology brought a new element to console gaming. Kinect tracks and captures a player’s movements, then translates them into the play of a game. Now a large pharmaceutical company is partnering with Microsoft to apply that technology for a therapeutic purpose. In a new application of games in health care, Novartis is betting that the Kinect technology can be used to track the progress of multiple sclerosis, and in turn, play a role in developing new treatments for the disease.

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Video Games Research Turns Into Physical Therapy for Stroke Patients

There are two schools of thought on the best way to help regain the muscle movement and dexterity lost by those who suffer a stroke. Some people believe that patients should not move at all unless in the presence of a physical therapist, according to David Putrino, director of telemedicine and virtual rehabilitation at the Burke Medical Research Institute. But the other, diametrically opposite view, holds that a stroke patient should move as much as possible. Putrino subscribes to the latter view and he found medical evidence to support that position. Dabbling with games in health care, he developed a video game with applications in physical therapy for stroke patients.

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Detecting ADHD Early with CogCubed’s Groundskeeper

ADHD is one of those medical issues that come into the limelight more often than not for those diagnosed with the condition being over medicated, or receiving false diagnosis. ADHD is however a true problem for all ages of people, and in most cases it is both hard to treat as well as diagnose. Games in health are improving the experiences of consumers, and developers at CogCubed are working for those that suffer from ADHD.

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Zamzee

Boosting Children’s Physical Wellbeing with Zamzee

Health care experts warn that child obesity rates are rising to alarming levels. With the increase in obesity-related medical conditions, such as diabetes, it’s no wonder that parents and health professionals alike are looking for ways to keep children healthy. A good diet is one part of the equation. But an equally important part of child health is physical activity. Gamification startup HopeLab developed a technological way to keep kids on the move while tracking this activity at the same time. The company’s gamification software is called Zamzee.

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A Brief Overview of Gamification in Healthcare

Use of games in healthcare has become a focus among startup companies, largely concentrating on combining self-monitoring with games. The question remains if these new gamification products can lead to sustainable modification in healthcare behavior, especially among those who need it most. Gamification developers want to focus on the self-management of chronic conditions. Healthcare providers want to offer games to their clients, but privacy restrictions have added some legal an ethical wrinkles in the area of health care gaming design. Privacy restrictions are making it difficult to design healthcare feedback competitive gaming designs for those who would most benefit from them.

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