OBJECTIVE: Games for health, including digital videogames and gaming-based approaches, are increasingly being used in health promotion research and practice. Recently published research has shown that videogames have significant potential to promote healthy behaviors among youth and adolescents. Yet, there is a lack of available evidence-based resources to guide practitioners on the integration of games into tobacco prevention and smoking cessation interventions. To address this gap, expert researchers and game developers were interviewed to further define games for health, explore the current research, and provide recommendations for developing, evaluating, and promoting effective anti-tobacco games. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Nationally recognized experts on game development, games for health, tobacco, and health behavior were asked to participate. A qualitative analysis of 25 in-depth individual interviews using a constant comparative approach for emerging themes was conducted. RESULTS: Main themes that emerged from the data analysis included the following: (1) the current state of games for health research to facilitate health behavior change, (2) strategies for how to develop and evaluate games for quality and impact, and (3) recommendations for how to effectively design tobacco prevention and smoking cessation educational videogames that engage youth and adolescents. CONCLUSIONS: The synthesized findings identified through these expert interviews offer stakeholders strategies for how to incorporate games for health within their current and future work. Specific recommendations are presented for developers and researchers to consider when developing and evaluating videogames for tobacco prevention and smoking cessation targeted at youth and adolescents.
OBJECTIVE: Games for health, including digital videogames and gaming-based approaches, are increasingly being used in health promotion research and practice. Recently published research has shown that videogames have significant potential to promote healthy behaviors among youth and adolescents. Yet, there is a lack of available evidence-based resources to guide practitioners on the integration of games into tobacco prevention and smoking cessation interventions. To address this gap, expert researchers and game developers were interviewed to further define games for health, explore the current research, and provide recommendations for developing, evaluating, and promoting effective anti-tobacco games. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Nationally recognized experts on game development, games for health, tobacco, and health behavior were asked to participate. A qualitative analysis of 25 in-depth individual interviews using a constant comparative approach for emerging themes was conducted. RESULTS: Main themes that emerged from the data analysis included the following: (1) the current state of games for health research to facilitate health behavior change, (2) strategies for how to develop and evaluate games for quality and impact, and (3) recommendations for how to effectively design tobacco prevention and smoking cessation educational videogames that engage youth and adolescents. CONCLUSIONS: The synthesized findings identified through these expert interviews offer stakeholders strategies for how to incorporate games for health within their current and future work. Specific recommendations are presented for developers and researchers to consider when developing and evaluating videogames for tobacco prevention and smoking cessation targeted at youth and adolescents.
Authors: Brian A Primack; Mary V Carroll; Megan McNamara; Mary Lou Klem; Brandy King; Michael Rich; Chun W Chan; Smita Nayak Journal: Am J Prev Med Date: 2012-06 Impact factor: 5.043
Authors: Ivan Bindoff; Kristy de Salas; Gregory Peterson; Tristan Ling; Ian Lewis; Lindsay Wells; Peter Gee; Stuart G Ferguson Journal: JMIR Serious Games Date: 2016-12-01 Impact factor: 4.143
Authors: Andrea Lisabeth Hartzler; June BlueSpruce; Sheryl L Catz; Jennifer B McClure Journal: JMIR Mhealth Uhealth Date: 2016-08-05 Impact factor: 4.773