Vol. 20 No. 3, 2002 Education and Health 49
Players assume the role of characters who demonstrate good diabetes care practices while working to save a summer camp for children with diabetes from rats and mice who have stolen the supplies.
It is vital that we continue to develop the positive potential of videogames while remaining aware of possible unintended negative effects when game content is not prosocial. help adolescents learn impulse control. A videogame was used for four weeks with four subjects( 11 to 17 years) diagnosed with impulse control problems. After the experimental trial, the participants became more enthusiastic and co-operative about treatment.
Brain-wave biofeedback
New( as yet unpublished) research 23 suggests videogames linked to brain-wave biofeedback may help children with attention deficit disorders. Biofeedback teaches patients to control normally involuntary body functions such as heart rate by providing real-time monitors of those responses. With the aid of a computer display, attention-deficit patients can learn to modulate brain waves associated with focusing. With enough training, changes become automatic and lead to improvements in grades, sociability, and organizational skills. Following on from research involving pilot attentiveness during long flights, a similar principle has been developed to help attention-deficit children stay focused by rewarding an attentive state of mind. This has been done by linking biofeedback to commercial videogames.
In their trial, Pope 24 selected half a dozen‘ Sony PlayStation’ games and tested 22 girls and boys between the ages of 9 and 13 who had attention deficit disorder. Half the group got traditional biofeedback training, the other half played the modified video games. After 40 one-hour sessions, both groups showed substantial improvements in everyday brain-wave patterns as well as in tests of attention span, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity.
Parents in both groups also reported that their children were doing better in school. The difference between the two groups was motivation. The video-game group showed fewer no-shows and no dropouts. The researchers do warn that the‘ wrong kinds of videogame’ may be detrimental to children with attention disorders. For instance,‘ shoot‘ em up’ games may have a negative effect on children who already have a tendency toward short attention and impulsivity. They also state that the technique is an adjunct to drug therapy and not a replacement for it.
Videogames and health care
Videogames have also been used to improve children’ s health care. Several games have been developed specifically for children with chronic medical conditions. One of the best-studied is an educational game called‘ Packy and Marlon’. 25 This game was designed to improve self-care skills and medical compliance in children and adolescents with diabetes. Players assume the role of characters who demonstrate good diabetes care practices while working to save a summer camp for children with diabetes from rats and mice who have stolen the supplies.‘ Packy and Marlon’ is now available through‘ Click Health’( www. clickhealth. com), along with two additional health-related software products,‘ Bronkie the Bronchiasaurus’( for asthma self-management) and‘ Rex Ronan’( for smoking prevention).
In a controlled study using‘ Packy and Marlon’, 26 8- to 16-year olds were assigned to either a treatment or control group. All participants were given a‘ Super Nintendo’ game system. The treatment group was given‘ Packy and Marlon’ software, while the control subjects received an entertainment videogame. In addition to more communication with parents and improved self-care, the treatment group demonstrated a significant decrease in urgent medical visits.
Rehabilitation
There are also several case reports describing the use of videogames for rehabilitation. In one application, an electronic game was used to improve arm control in a 13 year old boy with Erb’ s palsy. 27 The authors concluded that the game format capitalized on the child’ s motivation to succeed in the game and focused attention away from potential discomfort.
Electronic games have also been used to enhance adolescents’ perceived self-efficacy in HIV / AIDS prevention programs. 28 Using a time travel adventure game format, information and opportunities for practice discussing prevention practices were provided to high-risk adolescents. Game-playing resulted in significant gains in factual information about safe sex practices, and in the participants’ perceptions of their ability to successfully negotiate and implement such practices with a potential partner.
Concluding remarks
It is vital that we continue to develop the positive potential of videogames while remaining aware of possible unintended negative effects when game content is not prosocial. At the present time, the most popular games are usually violent. Given current findings, it is reasonable to be concerned about the impact of violent games on some children and adolescents. Game developers need support and encouragement to put in the additional effort necessary to develop interesting games which do not rely heavily on violent actions.