14 DAY TRIAL // We usually hear about game-related studies only when some organization wants to prove how bad they are for the mind and the body of a human being. However, there are people who want to do more than criticize video games - use them to help patients with cancer, for example. And they not only try to do that, they're successful, too.
Nonprofit organization HopeLab is the company that conducted a study which proved that specifically-designed video games help encourage young patients to take their medications more consistently and have an overall better reaction to chemotherapy. With these findings, the company managed to reach its goal of proving that video games can be used to improve human health.
Of course, we're not talking about any video game here: a real time strategy like World in Conflict probably has no effect on people who need treatment, but specifically created games do. Such an example is Re-Mission, a title developed by HopeLab and distributed for free in hospitals, starting 2006. In the game, players control a microscopic robot that is inserted in virtual patients to attack cancer cells and combat the side-effects of their treatment. Apparently, it has a bigger impact than you could imagine!
"This study shows that a strategically designed video game can be a powerful new tool to enhance the impact of medical treatment by motivating healthy behavior in the patient," said HopeLab vice president of research Dr. Steve Cole. "We now know that games can induce positive changes in the way individuals manage their health," he added. "The game not only motivates positive health behavior; it also gives players a greater sense of power and control over their disease - in fact, that seems to be its key ingredient."
The study followed 375 teens and young adults with cancer at 34 medical centers in the United States, Canada and Australia during three months of treatment. Until now, more than 125,000 free copies of Re-Mission have been distributed to hospitals worldwide.