Claimed to be addictive, video games may have health benefits
Video games are often criticized for their addictive nature, which can also have beneficial effects on health. Especially when it comes to pain management.
What if tomorrow, your doctor could give you a few hours of video games? As absurd as the idea may seem, video games are often singled out for their addictive power. However, they can also have health benefits and have proven to be an invaluable tool for pain management.
Divert the patient’s attention
When we play a video game, we are in a state of maximum concentration called “flow”. That’s the whole point of the game. Capture the player’s attention to better divert it and make him forget that he is undergoing rehabilitation, explains Pierre-Alain Gagne, co-founder of Dowino, a creation studio specializing in “serious games” for educational purposes, during a series of conferences at the City of Science and Industry on the theme of health and video games.
Tailor-made games
With this in mind, the developers have created games that specifically meet the needs of practitioners and patients.
Like Voracy Fish, a game developed to promote upper limb rehabilitation for stroke victims. In Voracy Fish, the player embodies a hungry fish that he directs via a joystick, a mouse, or directly on a tablet. The objective is to make the fish grow by devouring other fish. With his hand, the patient performs different actions in the game, while practicing classic functional rehabilitation exercises in a motivating setting, explains Catherine Rolland.
A solution to medical deserts
Video games could also be part of the solution to medical deserts. In some cases, and particularly when we are talking about rehabilitation, medical follow-up requires a significant mobilization of health professionals. The use of video games in this area could allow doctors to carry out regular remote monitoring, regardless of where the patient is, and the latter to work in self-rehabilitation, says Catherine Rolland.
This is also the objective of the Cesaar-AVC research project, for design et EVALUATION An System Assistance to-reéducation du Membre Supéurieur en reality Virtual APRES AVC.
It is an assistance system for home self-rehabilitation of the upper limbs after a stroke. Based on a game similar to Voracy Fish, but this time with a bird having to eat fruit as the protagonist.
