Games for Health

Games for Health are games that aim to either promote health or to prevent, diagnose or treat (chronic) diseases.

Description

These games, which are generally considered serious games, aim to influence health outcomes by increasing the user's knowledge and changing their behaviors through play.

Conference

Games for Health is also the name of series of conferences made possible in part by funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as part of their Pioneer Portfolio program. Games for Health is a part of the Serious Games Initiative.

The conference has received media attention in recent years for its work to showcase the health and research implications of video games.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Sep 2004 Madison, Wisconsin
Sep 2005 Baltimore, Maryland
Sep 2006 Baltimore, Maryland
May 2008 Baltimore, Maryland
June 2009 Boston, Massachusetts
May 2010 Boston, Massachusetts

Journal

Games for Health is also a peer-reviewed journal, which was launched in February 2012.

References

^ "Digital gamers target disease". The Washington Times. 2008. Retrieved 2010-04-13.
^ Begley, Sharon (2008). "This Is Your Brain on a Videogame". Newsweek. Retrieved 2010-04-13.
^ Aubrey, Allison (2008). "Gaming Your Way to Fitness". National Public Radio. Retrieved 2010-04-13.