Health Points : Health Gamification

S3E3: Dr. Amy Duncan ＜＞ Making Players the Hero of their Journey in Therapeutic Games

We’re already at Episode 3!

In this episode, we’re joined by Dr. Amy Duncan to explore her work and game development at Sea Monster Impact Games Studio.

Amy has a PhD in Neuropsychology and is a registered Neuropsychologist with a strong background in education and academia. She is hugely passionate about using games to drive learning and behaviour change at scale to create a positive impact in the world.

In this episode, we explore:

• Having the intuition to lead you to knocking on a game studio's CEO's door because you’re so passionate about serious & impactful games
•  Creating Human-centered and user-centered and designing games where players become their heroes in their own journey, as a framework for translating gameplay into new knowledge and new real-world behaviors.
• The therapeutic experience of games, connecting with mind, body, environment and music with examples like ‘the last my-stro’ supporting people with PTSD. 

 https://www.seamonster.digital/

S3E2: Sam Knowles ＜＞ Story Telling and non-Digital Games Influencing Patient-Centered Drug Development Decision Making

Roll on episode 2!

 

In this episode we’re joined by Sam Knowles to explore his work with Novartis is developing games to encourage staff to think through the many facets involved in pharmaceutical drug research, development and delivery from patient and stakeholder perspectives.

Sam is the Chief Data Storyteller at Insight Agents and the author of the Using Data Better trilogy of books “Narrative by Numbers”, “How to be Insightful” and “Asking Smarter Questions”.

Sam is also an Advisory Council Member for the Harvard

Business Review, is Vice President of Brighton Chamber of Commerce and to finish off this list, and Sam is the host of the Podcast ‘Data Malarkey’

 

In this episode we explore:

• The games Sam created with Novartis to provide professionals with a fun way to explore the options for patient-focused drug design and delivery, rather than following the industry default of another ‘patient involvement panel’.
• The value of ‘physicality’ in non-digital, analogue games to create in-person connections and conversations. How a game can provide a safe space for teams to consider a number of different and sometimes difficult scenarios that professionals working in patient engagement face.
• And, the importance of storytelling in games, as data-driven decision-making is challenging, as we make decisions emotionally, because we take cognitive shortcuts, and people remember stories more than statistics; Telling people facts isn’t enough, but through good storytelling in games, this is the potential that can motivate people to change thinking, decision and ultimately behaviours 

 

https://insightagents.co.uk/meet-the-agents/

https://insightagents.co.uk/data-malarkey-podcast/

 

S3E1: Dr. Alexander Fanaroff＜＞Gamification and Financial Incentives, Motivating More Movement for Healthy Hearts

We're back! Series 3 of Health Points is here. 

 

To kick off Series 3, we have an exceptional episode with Dr. Alexander Fanaroff, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. 

In this episode, we talk through Alexander's pioneering and insightful study: The Effect of Gamification, Financial Incentives, or Both to Increase Physical Activity Among Patients at High Risk of Cardiovascular Events: The BE ACTIVE Randomised Contrlled Trial. 

Alexander is a medical doctor of interventional cardiology and Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology at the University of Pennsylvania. He has a specific interest in increasing physical activity in patients with cardiovascular disease, with a keen interest in the role of gamification to achieve this. 

In this episode, we explore:

1. The benefits of physical activity for people living with cardiovascular disease, with benefits far outweighing the risks
2. The BE ACTIVE study highlights the role of gamification, financial incentives or both to overcome the motivational barriers for people living with a health condition to move more. 
3. And that self-setting goals and being accountable to the reaching goals (to ones self and to others) works. 

 

https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.124.069531

https://www.pennmedicine.org/providers/profile/alexander-fanaroff

S2E16: Series 2 Finale Live Panel Debate

It's the Health Points Series 2 Finale recorded at the UKRI Healthy Ageing Challenge Conference, December 2023. 

 

We have a stellar lineup for our first ever in-person recording of Health Points:

Jon Hymus: Managing Director of Innerva - https://www.innerva.com/ 

Bruce Elliott: CEO of Memory Lane Games - https://www.memorylanegames.com/

Silvia Lin: Founder of Tycho MedLink -  www.tychomedlink.co.uk

 

A brilliant discussion and debate on the role and future of health gamification. 

 

We will be back with Series 3 in Spring 2024. 

 

Keep gaming and stay healthy, Ben & Pete

 

S2E15: Pippa Boothman ＜＞Smart balls revolutionising sport and exercise for kids and teens.

We're onto the penultimate Health Points episode for Series 2, and we have a cracking episode. Joining us is Pippa Boothman, CEO at Playfinity. 

https://playfinity.com/

Pippa has a background studying sociology and criminology and previous roles in marketing and commercials before joining Playfinity. 

In this episode, we explore:

1. Rather than focusing on the 2% of kids and adolescents who follow the competitive track for sports, instead focusing on the 98% of kids and adolescents whose main focus for sport, is fun.
2. Using technology, not to create new sports, but to measure sports actions, adding new game mechanics to existing exercises and sports
3. From kids jumping one million times with Plyfinity, to games which are powered by the number of ball kicks, highlighting the importance of new engaging ways to motivate kids to be active, for them, and their healthy future.

S2E14: Bruce Elliot ＜＞Fighting Dementia with Memory Games

Welcome to Episode 14 of Series 2, and joining us is Bruce Elliot, Co-Founder and CEO of Memory Lane Games. 

Before Memory Lane Games, Bruce had a twenty-year track record of building world-class, innovative eCommerce companies. Having competed with Paypal in the online payment world to bring Kodak into the blockchain world,  Bruce has led start-ups and publicly traded companies from start-up to 1 million users and $250M annual revenues.

Memory Lane Games started following a conversation between the co-founders on how to support family members, and now it's delivering over 3,000 cognitive-stimulating and socialising games, with over 100k downloads that’s being played in over 130 countries.

https://www.memorylanegames.com/

 

 In this episode, we explore:

• Designing ’ frustration-free’ games that includes ‘errorless learning’ that promotes longer-term engagement, social interaction, cognitive stimulation and empowered play
• Which all results in more laughter, happiness, improved communication, relaxation, inter-generational connections and the potential to improve the symptoms of dementia globally.

S2E13: Wain Choi ＜＞ Masterclass in the Communicating and Promotion of Health Gamification

We've landed at Episode 13 of Series 2, and joining us is Wain Choi, Chief Creative Offer at Black & White. 

 

Wain worked with some of the largest brands on the planet, marketing tech giants health & wellness features and functionality. His previous roles were as Creative Director at Zulu Alpha Kilo Inc and Cheif Creative Offer for OgiIvy and Cheil Worldwide. It was while at Cheil Worldwide he was part of the team that created the advertisement for Samsung's ' Look at Me' app, an app to support autistic children. The 'Touching Autism' promotion won the Cannes 'Gold Lion Award. 

 

https://www.brandinginasia.com/samsung-autism-ad-wins-cannes-gold-lion-award/

 

This episode of Health Points is a curveball to our usual guests, as focuses on how to make health gamification more visible and accessible. In this episode, we explore:

• Taking digital products for entertainment and gaming and transitioning them to therapeutic purposes
• Moving a cold engineering brand into a warm emotive brand, with a campaign that was so successful it won one of the most prestigious industry awards
• The need to better communicate health gamification at a greater scale to promote the role of health gamification, and transition it towards mainstream medicine and therapeutics.

S2E12: Jonny Bloomfield ＜＞ Oopla: Professional Rugby sport science transformed into motivation game mechanics

And we're at Episode 12 of Series 2, and joining us is Dr. Jonny Bloomfield, CEO at Oopla.

Jonny is a Behavioral Health & Performance Coach specialising in stress management, sleep, exercise & nutrition. He has a background in Sports Science, with a PhD from the University of Hull, and started his career as a Fitness Coach at Ulster Rugby. moving on to a Sports Physiologist at the Sports Institute of Northern Ireland, then taking on the role as the first Sports Scientist for England Rugby, before moving on to occupational science roles ahead of starting Oopla.

 

In this episode, we explore:

• Taking international-level Rugby sports science to the front line of the health service staff

 

• The exercise motivation mechanics, of not just points for being active, but adopting a strategy to be active, to get more points, reflecting more traditional strategic board & videos games

 

• And working with different player types, to make sure everyone feels part of a community, no matter if they more of the traditional active ‘gym bunnys’, or those who are starting to discover being more active.

 

S2E11: Scott Taylor ＜＞ Perx Health: creating over 4000% more engagement in health self-management with tailored gamification

Rolling on to episode 11, and joining us today is Scott Taylor, co-founder and CEO of Perx Health, a chronic condition management service that supports users in developing better habits and a lifetime of better health.

 

Scott has an academic background in behavioural economics, with real-world interest in its application to motivation and positive health behaviour. He has a background in private equity investment in consumer, industrial and technology companies before he started Perx Health.

 

In this episode, we explore:

• Taking an empirical approach with game feature identification, design and implementation, plus validating them with academic research

 

• Creating business models for health gamification services that align to the economic incentives for health systems and health insurers, impacting their bottom line, creates new revenues.

 

• That’s there’s no ‘silver bullet’ game mechanic. It’s the tailoring of gamification features to create personalised motivation for every user, which can lead to industry-defining engagement and retention stats

S2E10: Geoffrey Kretz ＜＞ Supporting 3 MILLION people to stop smoking with gamification

We’re at episode 10, and joining us is Geoffrey Kretz, co-founder and CEO of the Kwit app, a digital pocket coach based on cognitive Behaviour therapy to support people quit smoking for good, supporting more than 3 million people to date.

 

He’s an entrepreneur, user experience guru, and development expert who’s previously worked for banks, biotech companies, and everything in between

 

In this episode, we explore:

 

• How lived experience and a personal motivation to stop smoking led to developing a highly successful gamified health app

 

• The steps to the prescription of medical technology

 

• And yet, the challenges of regulatory approval and future feature development within digital gamified health products