Tag: gaming

Games for Health Journal Call for Papers

Cynthia A. Lockley on

Games for Health Journal

Image of a cover of the Games for Health Journal, Volume 8, Issue 2 - 2019

Games for Health Journal is the first peer-reviewed journal dedicated to advancing the impact of game research, technologies, and applications on human health and well-being. This ground-breaking publication delivers original research that directly impacts this emerging, widely-recognized, and increasingly adopted area of healthcare.

Special Issue on Supporting Disease Prevention and Lifestyle Changes through Gaming

Guest Editors:

Assoc. Professor Nilufar Baghaei
Otago Polytechnic Auckland International Campus (OPAIC), Unitec Institute of Technology
Professor Ralph Maddison
Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Deakin University
National Institute for Health Innovation, University of Auckland
Dr Samantha Marsh
Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, University of Auckland 

Modifiable lifestyle risk factors (unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, and tobacco use) are important drivers of many non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which represent a major cause of death and disability worldwide. It has been projected by the World Health Organization that, by 2030, three-quarters of all deaths worldwide will be due to NCDs. Further, it has been estimated that if the risk factors were eliminated, at least 80% of all heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes and over 40% of cancer would be prevented.

Traditional models of healthcare delivery—such as receiving health-related education from nurses, dietitians, and health psychologists—can often be resource intensive and expensive, and has limited reach. Recent research highlights the potential of serious games for motivating and promoting knowledge and lifestyle changes. Serious games (a.k.a. applied games) are designed for a primary purpose other than pure entertainment. Given their ubiquitous use, smartphones and tablet computers in particular offer unprecedented opportunity to support people to make lifestyle change, regardless of their physical location. Such games can provide engaging interactive health education modules, help keep track of progress, and provide feedback on users’ eating and drinking habits and/or physical activities, thus helping people to achieve long-term lifestyle changes through sustained interaction.

The goal of this special issue is to provide an opportunity for health and technology researchers to submit their contribution on the design, implementation, and evaluation of novel games for intervention, support, and persuasion of people to manage their weight and improve their lifestyle. We are interested in theoretically, empirically, and/or methodologically oriented contributions including but not limited to:

  • Games for encouraging and persuading people to consume more fruits and vegetable, get enough sleep, drink more water, and/or exercise more
  • Games for discouraging smoking and binge drinking
  • Games for enhancing health literacy in specific age groups (children, young adults, or senior citizens)
  • Games for improving health-related self-efficacy, which could in turn enable users to become more competent in changing their lifestyle
  • Games focusing on health-related education
  • Games incorporating mobile technologies, internet of things, social media, augmented/virtual/mixed reality
  • Evaluation studies showing the effectiveness of a proposed game
  • Systematic review of the literature showing current technologies, their effectiveness, and future trends

The deadline for manuscript submission is August 15, 2019. Please submit your papers online to the web-based manuscript submission and peer-review system.

For manuscript submission guidelines and further information about the Journal, please visit the Games for Health Journal website. We look forward to receiving your manuscripts and to your active participation in the Journal!

Questions?
Contact the Journal Editorial Office.

*When submitting, please include the following acronym: DPLC (standing for Disease Prevention and Lifestyle Changes) at the beginning of the title of your manuscript.

Learn More about this journal

Weekend Gazette – Link Collection for June 13

Karen Mardahl on

We present to you a menu of tidbits collected in recent days that are too short for blog posts and sometimes too long for a tweet (when we want to add clarifying comments). Headings provide a light grouping to help you skim the offerings. Bon appétit!

The Old Folks

Aging is a suitable topic in technical communications because it involves all of us at some point. Don't expect aging to go away! There are always articles about helping today's older generation with technology or preparing for a future with an older generation who grew up with technology. Whether you call them senior citizens, the elderly, the old folks, or gray panthers, they are your audience at some level and at some point. Don't ignore them. Grandma might get nasty!

Academia, Education, and Online Learning

The IMS Global Learning Consortium is an excellent resource for those of you somewhere in academia. IMS GLC aims for "standards that enable the development and adoption of innovative technologies to improve and transform education worldwide." They held the Learning Impact 2010 conference in May, but I cannot find public slides or material from the conference. Go explore if it has aroused your curiosity.

What are the issues with online learning and accessibility? "Research and Practice in K-12 Online Learning: A Review of Open Access Literature" by Cathy S. Cavanaugh, Michael K. Barbour, and Tom Clark examines a report from the U.S. Department of Education and poses questions about "universal design of online learning environments and materials". You can get the book from Amazon.com "What Works in K–12 Online Learning", edited by Cathy Cavanaugh and Robert Blomeyer.  Updated

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Tutorial is about more than accessibility or the notion of making environments accessible for learners with disabilities. It gets at the heart of design – whether it's design of a building, design of learning materials, design of a classroom environment, or design of a system. UDL is about the decisions we make in the design and development of learning systems, materials, and environments and whether those decisions unnecessarily constrain learners. From the National Center on Low-Incidence Disabilities, University of Northern Colorado. See also:

Tools That Change Lives

analogy of web accessibility being like a ramp. Web accessibility is a well built building from the foundation up." I agree with this and want to include those technical communicators who are not in software
@ezufelt once wrote, "I don't like the- accessibility is part of the foundation whether you are working with software or hardware. Some people seem to find this concept hard to digest. Stories that tell how accessible products have a positive effect in someone's life could be the tipping point. I've collected some links that tell stories – life-changing stories, in fact.

Use these stories as inspiration for involving people with disabilities in any kind of usability testing you are doing – or should be doing. No matter how clever you are, you will not be able to think up all possible scenarios on your own. Remember, users can always provide a new and surprising angle. If people with disabilities are involved as developers or designers of products, wow! Think of the potential for inclusion in that scenario!

The Last Word

I have a dream that one day we will not be judged by our abilities / bodies but by the content of our character.

@wendyabc

Link Contributors

This post was glued together with links or inspiration from many people. They are listed with their Twitter names.

@anikto
@atmacjournal
@DaveBanesAccess
@dboudreau
@IBMAccess
@jebswebs
@Jennison
@joemsie
@kellylford
@maccymacx
@mpaciello