Digital games are one of the latest tools being used to improve health outcomes, says one expert.
Virtual realities, computer simulations and online play are among the games gaining traction, according to Carleen Hawn, co-founder and editor of Healthspottr.com in San Francisco. In an article appearing Aug. 4 in Health Affairs online, Hawn said health-related digital games have an "immense" potential for growth in the digital game market.
According to PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the worldwide market for game hardware and software generated $42 billion in revenues in 2007 and will grow to an estimated $68 billion by 2012. Currently, digital health games generate only an estimated $6.6 billion.
With the huge success of games like the Wii Fit Balance Board, one of the popular Wii family of games produced by the Japanese company Nintendo, venture capitalists are beginning to show interest in health-related games, as are nonprofit groups, according to Hawn. Since 2008, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has pledged $8.25 million in grant funding for the development of digital health games.
"At the heart of any promising plan to transform the healthcare system lie two priorities: broader access to care for patients and deeper engagement in healthcare by patients," Hawn said. "Although the problem of expanding access to affordable care remains unresolved, new tools for deepening consumers' engagement in healthcare are proliferating like viral spores in a virtual pond."
In her article, Hawn said health insurance plans have begun using digital games to improve health. Humana recently tested a game called Horsepower Challenge among a group of 100 sixth-graders at five public schools in Louisville, Ky., Humana's home base. The children were given a wireless-enabled pedometer and encouraged to walk. Their steps were recorded and uploaded to power a networked video game. The more steps they took, the more power they had to play the game. After a four-week trial, Humana reported a 13 percent increase across all five schools in the number of steps the kids were taking.
Since then, Humana has extended its Horsepower Challenge to three schools in England and is now attempting to roll it out to 100 schools in 20 additional U.S. cities.
Greg Matthews, chief of Humana's consumer innovation group, said Humana has wanted to encourage healthy behavior and first focused on telling people what to do. Now, the company will focus on showing people how to have fun doing what is good for them.
