Increasing engagement in therapy with ‘ gamification ’
Nicola Goldsmith looks at ‘ gamification ’ as a solution to keeping clients engaged in their home-based occupational therapy and ensuring their regime remains purposeful and personalised
COVID-19 has significantly changed the world of occupational therapy , prompting therapists to reconsider concepts of delivery and reinforcing the importance of remote client management . It has driven an accelerated and urgent need for a remote software-driven rehab service .
The ultimate challenge lies in keeping clients engaged in their home-based occupational therapy and ensuring their regime remains purposeful and personalised . Gamification represents a highly effective solution .
The pandemic forced the healthcare sector to fasttrack integration of digital medical technology ( EY 2021 ) to facilitate healthcare delivery , including occupational therapy , to clients isolated at home .
The World Health Organization also suggests that one in three people around the world are living with a health problem that would benefit from rehabilitation ( WHO 2019 ). It also predicts that rehabilitation needs will continue to increase and therefore , among other things , delivery models need to be explored to facilitate equitable access to quality services .
Gamification is the use of game design in nongame contexts and is gaining increasing momentum in rehabilitation due to its ability to motivate patients to improve their own clinical outcomes through purposeful and engaging activities .
The use and benefits of gamification Serious games are games that have education or rehabilitation as a primary goal , combining entertainment , attentional engagement and problem solving to challenge function and performance . By linking to personalised goals , serious games can have a pronounced positive impact on adherence to rehabilitation programmes , particularly when game difficulty can be adapted , helping to maintain the user ’ s motivation and stimulate recovery .
A meta-analysis carried out on gamification in neuro rehab ( Hocine 2019 ) observed long-term retention of improvements , and also noted that custom-made technology complies better with neurorehab principles than off-the-shelf technology .
Gamification has been shown to improve adherence , and results in improved health outcomes in Parkinson ’ s ( Kearney et al 2019 ). For stroke patients , serious games have also been found to improve memory and attention span ( Gamito et al 2017 ).
Additionally , serious games can reduce tiredness and boredom associated with regular rehabilitation by adding entertainment into occupational therapy ( O ’ Neil et al 2018 ). These examples of the increase in engagement could be attributed to improved flow experience : the complete immersion felt by people during an activity .
Essentially , gamification can help transform a mundane rehab regime into something that is fun and enjoyable , without taking away from the potential effectiveness of the training and by embedding the key principles of the ‘ PERMA ’ theory of wellbeing , which comprises positive emotions , engagement , relationships , meaning and achievement ( Mishra et al 2019 ).
Remote monitoring and delivery The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of remote delivery of occupational therapy . The use of medical technology can support occupational therapy delivery both face to face and remotely , which can improve efficiency and reduce costs .
Here are two examples of how use of a mobile platform and its gamification and activity tracking features have enabled me to deliver rehab to clients and improve their outcomes .
Peter , aged 58 , had a C7 / 6 spinal decompression to address symptoms he had , including loss of active wrist , finger and thumb extension , loss of grip and pinch strength and consequent challenges with activities of daily living .
He had been given active and passive exercises and some putty by his previous therapist . He needed renewed splinting to correct a proximal interphalangeal contracture and assist in extension to facilitate function .
56 OTnews November 2021