JMIR Serious Games

Effective health care services that meet the diverse needs of children and adolescents with cancer are required to alleviate their physical, psychological, and social challenges and improve their quality of life. Previous studies showed that serious games help promote people’s health. However, the potential for serious games to be used for successful cancer control for children and adolescents has received less attention.

Numerous reviews advocate using virtual reality (VR) in educational contexts. This medium allows learners to test experiences in realistic environments. Virtually supported scenarios offer a safe and motivating way to explore, practice, and consolidate nursing skills in rare and critical nursing tasks. This is also cited as one of the reasons why VR can significantly increase the knowledge acquisition of nursing students. Nevertheless, studies are limited in their significance owing to the chosen design. Despite great interest, this results in a low level of confidence in VR as a curricular teaching method for nursing education. Therefore, defining concrete design and didactic-methodological parameters that support teachers in the use and implementation of VR is more relevant.

Background: Incentive salience processes are important for the development and maintenance of addiction. Eye-characteristics such as gaze fixation time, pupil diameter, and spontaneous blink rate (EBR) are theoretically associated with incentive salience and may serve as useful biomarkers. Yet, traditional cue-exposure paradigms used to elicit incentive salience are often constrained, potentially hindering our ability to accurately assess these markers.

Exercise offers significant health benefits but can induce oxidative stress and inflammation, especially in high-intensity formats like high-intensity interval exercise (hereafter "HIIE" for brevity). Exergaming has become an effective, enjoyable fitness tool for all ages, particularly seniors. Enzyme supplements may enhance exercise performance by improving lactate metabolism and reducing oxidative stress.

Pressure ulcers (PUs) are a common and serious complication in patients who are immobile in health care settings. Nurses play a fundamental role in the prevention of PUs; however, novice nurses lack experience in clinical situations. Virtual reality (VR) is highly conducive to clinical- and procedure-focused training because it facilitates simulations.

The effectiveness of virtual reality (VR) fitness games as a form of moderate to vigorous physical activity has yet to be thoroughly quantified through gold standard energy expenditure measures.

Traditional serious game design methods often overlook stakeholder needs. This study integrates stakeholder theory and enterprise architecture (EA), along with the Architecture Development Method, to propose a novel framework for serious game design. Crafted to aid practitioners, researchers, and specialists in leveraging resources more effectively, the framework is validated through a design science research methodology. Expert reviews have further refined its features, making it a robust tool for enhancing serious game design and implementation.

Due to a high number of patients affected by long COVID or post-COVID condition, an essential step to address the long-term effects of COVID-19 lies in the development and implementation of flexible and accessible rehabilitation programs. Virtual reality (VR) technologies offer the potential to support traditional therapies with individualized at-home programs.

Currently, the fusion of technology and sport is inseparable. The integration of various systems and devices has brought about significant transformations in established sports practices, impacting not only the rules but also physiological, biomechanical, and even psychological aspects.

In the wake of challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic to conventional medical education, the demand for innovative teaching methods has surged. Nurse training, with its focus on hands-on practice and self-directed learning, encountered significant hurdles with conventional approaches. Augmented reality (AR) offers a potential solution to addressing this issue.

Adolescent mental health is of utmost importance. E-mental health interventions, in particular serious games, are appealing to adolescents and can have beneficial effects on their mental health. A serious game aimed at impacting cognitive vulnerability, i.e. beliefs or attitudes which can predispose an individual to mental health problems, can contribute to the prevention of these problems in adolescents.

Serious games, which are gaming applications used for purposes beyond entertainment to educate users on, and address, specific issues, may present a timely approach to promote healthy diabetes management behaviors among children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). The lasting benefits associated with these serious games encompass improved patient education; enhanced glycemic control; the reinforcement of bonds within the community of people with diabetes; the facilitation of meaningful dialogues with caregivers, especially within the familial setting; and a significant reduction in the economic burdens associated with subsequent complications.