JMIR Serious Games

The aging population highlights the need to maintain both physical and psychological well-being. Frailty, a multidimensional syndrome, increases vulnerability to adverse outcomes. While physical exercise is effective, adherence among frail older adults is often low due to barriers. Motion-based video games (MBVG) may enhance motivation and engagement.

EmergenCSimTM, is a novel researcher-developed serious game (SG) with an embedded scoring and feedback tool that reproduces an obstetric operating room environment. The learner must perform general anesthesia (GA) for emergent cesarean delivery (CD) for umbilical cord prolapse. The game was developed as an alternative teaching tool because of diminishing real-world exposure of anesthesiology trainees to this clinical scenario. Traditional debriefing (facilitator-guided reflection) is considered to be integral to experiential learning but requires the participation of an instructor. The optimal debriefing methods for SGs have not been well-studied. Electronic feedback is commonly provided at the conclusion of SGs, so we aimed to compare the effectiveness of learning when an in-person debrief is added to electronic feedback compared to using electronic feedback alone.

Conventional rehabilitation approaches involve therapists simulating various occupational tasks in healthcare settings or recreating real-life situations to assess and train patients in instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). As an alternative technology, immersive virtual reality (IVR) has been widely used in stroke rehabilitation for years, but limited research has compared occupational performances between virtual and real environments.

School climate and school identification are important features of the school environment and potential determinants of adolescent internet gaming disorder (IGD).

Adolescence is a critical developmental stage that is particularly vulnerable to the initiation of tobacco use. Despite the well-documented health risks associated with tobacco use, it remains prevalent among adolescents. Games for health are a promising strategy for tobacco prevention, using experiential and social learning theories to enhance engagement and improve behavior change.

Many studies have shown a direct relationship between physical activity and health. It has also been shown that the average fitness level in Western societies is lower than recommended by the World Health Organization. One tool that can be used to increase physical activity for individual people is exergaming, that is, serious games that motivate players to do physical exercises.

Effective inter-professional teamwork is vital for ensuring high-quality patient care, especially in emergency medicine. However, inter-professional education often fails to facilitate meaningful interaction among healthcare disciplines. It is therefore imperative to afford early opportunities for cultivating inter-professional teamwork skills. While in-person simulation-based training has been shown to improve performance, this is resource-intensive, especially if it involves multiple professions. Virtual Reality (VR)-based training is an innovative instructional approach that demands fewer resources and offers the flexibility of location-independent learning.

Declines in physical and cognitive function is a natural biological process, leading to an increased risk of falls. Promising evidence suggests that combined physical-cognitive exercise has beneficial effects in improving both physical and cognitive health. While moderate-to-high exercise intensity is commonly recommended, it might be impractical for older adults facing physical limitations or contraindications. Thus, low-intensity exercise is a viable option. The main barriers to engaging in exercise in older adults include transportation, time, motivation, and enjoyment. To overcome these challenges, a home-based, gamification-based training system may provide an effective approach to enhance exercise adherence.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) usually begins in childhood and is often accompanied by impairments in social functioning. Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as an adjunctive tool to embed in social skills training to enhance the social skills of children with ADHD, but its effectiveness requires further investigation.

Firefighters face stressful life-threatening events requiring fast decision-making. To better prepare for those situations, training is paramount, but errors in real-life training can be harmful. Virtual reality (VR) simulations provide the desired realism while enabling practice in a secure and controlled environment. Firefighters’ affective states are also crucial as they are a higher-risk group.

This study explores gamification in the design of virtual patients (VPs) to enhance the training of Swedish military medics in trauma care. The challenges related to prehospital trauma care faced on the battlefield require tailored educational tools that support military medics’ education and training.

Fatigue is a common and debilitating side effect of chronic diseases, significantly impacting patients’ quality of life. While physical exercise and psychological treatments have been shown to reduce fatigue, patients often struggle with adherence to these interventions in clinical practice. Game-based eHealth interventions are believed to address adherence issues by making the intervention more accessible and engaging.