Technological advancements have led to an improvement in major sectors of the economy in Poland and around the world. Digital health and gaming are among the fields greatly impacted positively by tech and innovations that keep coming up. The gaming world for instance has seen an overall change in how gaming is conducted. The invention of online casinos has been made possible mainly because of the penetration of the internet to many places globally.
The health sector on the other hand has seen a tremendous improvement in how health is conducted. Thanks to internet connectivity, digital health has now become a reality. Both the Gaming and Digital Health fields borrow a lot from each other.
Technological tools used to improve health are somehow similar to the technological tools used to develop gaming. According to our expert Jacek Michalski (view profile), here are examples of merging games and health:
Prescription Video Games
Video games are now used as modern-day medicine. Top of the list is the US Food and Drug Administration. The FDA came up with the first-ever video game that was legally marketed and could be prescribed in the US market. The video game which was developed by Akili Initiative was named EndeavorRX.
The game can be prescribed for minors between the ages of 8-12 who suffer from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, commonly referred to as ADHD. Before its approval, the game underwent a vigorous trial of 7 years on over 600 subjects. The game is a drug-free alternative for children, and current reports indicate it has been successful in managing the condition.
Gaming to Improve Health Outcomes
After the success of EndeavorRX’s, many gaming solutions to improve digital health have continued to increase. A recent study found that the use of video game tools in digital health improved 69% of psychological therapy outcomes. The gaming tools also improved physical therapy by 59%. The same was also the case for clinical skills, which improved by 46%.
Cooperative games have also gone a long way in improving the healthcare of both patients and healthcare professionals by relieving anxiety and stress. Games for improving health outcomes are not similar to automaty online, or any other game that you will find in a Polish online casino.
Virtual Reality in Physiological Therapy
Virtual reality is a modern technological advancement that has affected both the gaming and digital health sector. Virtual reality is a form of technology where subjects are immersed in a certain environment giving the impression that they are physically in the said environment. Among the biggest successes in the digital health sector is the use of virtual reality for physiological therapy.
Scientist Freeman in collaboration with other team members conducted a test in The Lancet Psychiatry and published their results in August 2018. The team conducted the test by placing the mentally ill patients in virtual environments, which triggered stress. For the initial test, they used heights as the distressed environment. A coach was then used to conduct physiological therapy while using virtual reality. The test was a big success. Many institutions, after learning of the success of the test, started trying out similar strategies. Currently, virtual reality is being used to detect and manage mental illnesses and disorders like anxiety disorder and psychosis.
Virtual Reality in Surgery
Virtual reality has also been used to successfully simulate surgical environments. Surgeries are crucial and very sensitive such that a little mistake can result in instant death or organ failure. Virtual reality is now enabling surgeons and theatre crew to sharpen their skills in a safe and controllable space. Virtual reality has also been used to develop motion controllers.
Motion controllers have made a great impact on digital health. The motion sensors are carefully crafted using haptic feedback tools which relay full information, which greatly improves the surgical experience. The use of motion sensors in surgery has been proven to be cheaper than traditional training, which is expensive and prone to human error.
The technology continues to be used in major hospitals globally and is greatly influencing the success of most surgeries. The technology has also received many accolades, including being named by the Times Magazine in the top 50 best inventions in the year 2018.
As you can see, a video game and health can be a match made in heaven. We will be on the lookout for the latest game technology and ensure that you are always updated.
