Using video games within healthcare isn’t a new idea. Since the early 1980s, video games have been used in patient care to encourage adherence, and work alongside treatments to improve treatment outcomes.

How do video games change behaviour?
The repetitive nature of video game play is thought to be a key mechanism that promotes learning. Using games as a form of pain or stress relief relies more on the immersion and distraction they can offer.

One of the earliest examples of this is in paediatric oncology and the associated side effects of chemotherapy – nausea, vomiting, anxiety and pain. During the study, oncology patients were given a video game to play while they received their chemotherapy. The patients who played the game showed a significant reduction in nausea compared with control patients. The therapeutic effects of the game were attributed to the distraction that it provided, by focusing attention away from side effects.

Snow World
Building on this distractive method of pain management, a team of researchers and game designers developed a virtual reality game for burn patients called Snow World. Players are immersed in a virtual reality world where they fly through icy landscapes shooting snowballs at snowmen and penguins. The game was designed to minimize body motion and distract from pain during wound care.  The cool imagery and immersive game play were shown to be a viable alternative to strong drugs. Patients who played the game reported a significant reduction in pain, and fMRI scans showed a reduction in neurological pain signals.  Doctors even noted a wider range of movement from patients in physiotherapy sessions.

Packy and Marlon
Video games have not only been used in pain management; gaming has also been shown to be a powerful motivator and behavioural change tool. One well-known example is Packy and Marlon, which was originally made for the Super Nintendo game console system, and modified for children with diabetes. The two main characters, Packy and Marlon, are diabetic elephants who thwart camp invaders while protecting and finding missing supplies (insulin and healthy food). To stay in good shape during four simulated days, players must keep their character’s diabetes under control by measuring and monitoring blood glucose, taking insulin, selecting a balanced diet in three meals and three snacks a day, and handling diabetic emergencies.

A study over 6 months showed that ‘gaming’ patients demonstrated greater self-management, increased communication with parents about diabetes and better adherence to insulin therapy. Most impressively, the ‘gaming’ group had a 77% decrease in diabetes-related emergencies and urgent care clinical visits compared with controls.

Bronciasaurus
A similar example is Bronciasaurus, a video game for young children with asthma. The game is set in a world which is covered in dust because the fan that usually keeps the dust at bay has broken. Players help the in-game characters keep their asthma at bay by avoiding triggers such as dust and smoke while they go on their quest to repair the fan. There are some question-and-answer inserts in the game that need to be answered correctly in order to proceed. A series of studies on the game found that patients’ asthma-related self-concepts, social support, knowledge, self-care behaviors, and self-efficacy improved significantly after playing the game compared with the control group.

The potential for video games in health care is continuing to expand beyond behavioural change and pain management. Most recently virtual reality has demonstrated its use as a unique form of physiotherapy in stroke victims, laying the foundation for gaming to not only be an important adjunct to therapy but to even be part of treatment itself.

These are fascinating sessions that we all get loads from. Delving into Findwine.co.uk’s price/style simplification concept, built on insights gained during the time Mike spent in the retail wine trade. Their plans to grow and expand into new areas through strategic partnerships, and international ventures proved a great opportunity for us to discuss, brands, ideas, and growth.

We were joined by more of the agency, when Mike stayed on for an evening helping us choose the wine for Hive over the next 12 months. We covering 3 styles of sparkling, white and red. The naive intention was to have a civilised evening, but what resulted was about 18 glasses of wine each and 10 of us seeing the night off in Hix for Oyster Ale galore. Our blurred choices for 2011 are;

• For mid day effervescence - NV Giacoma Montresor Rose Royal Spumante Brut Pinot noir (Rich toasty aromas of bread, mingle with flower blossom, ripe apples and luscious cherries. Elegant and balanced palate, with some complexity. Jas; “tastes like Sherbet dip dabs”)
• For more celebratory events that require Krug like refined bubbles - Zuccardi Alma 4 Chardonnay (Golden, rich well rounded & yeasty with citrus & biscuity notes & a lovely creamy finish. Jas; “tastes like custard”)
• For white with attitude – 2009, Some Young Punks Monsters Attacked Riesling  (An absolutely sublime Clare Riesling, crisp and limey with a dollop of residule sugar for easy drinking. Anna; “tastes like something I used to drink in the park – in a good way”)
• For late night red – 2008 Cervoles from Costers Del Segre in Spain (a velvety, rich delight, filling the mouth with berries and summer fruits. Morgaine; ” I don’t really like alcohol”)

A lovely evening and huge thanks to Mike for opening up his mind for the entrepreneurs in the flesh session and for opening up the bottles and guiding us so amusingly for the remainder of the evening.

Needless to say we could recommend Mike and Findwines enough if you fancy brilliant, delicious and interesting wines, delivered with simplicity.

One of the most important areas that we help our clients with is training – their reps, their HCPs, their patients. Agencies have been creating training booklets since the beginning of time, but we have a few extra tricks up our sleeves that we think makes the whole learning process a little bit more interesting.

Whilst researching new ways of keeping people engaged with training programmes, I was lucky enough to discover this short video of a presentation by the immensely charismatic Seth Priebatsch about the game layer, and more specifically about 4 of the 7 gaming dynamics.

Anyone got any thoughts on what the other 3 might be?

It’s finding me panicking loads, trying to figure out whether we should cover a case study or revisit some old ground with a real life business. Alongside this – I am trying to get hold of an entrepreneur to come and present their business for discussion live by the troops.

As I was sifting through a pile of interesting (but academic) notes on previous sessions and I came across this – a Powerpoint written by a Mark Sniukas a consultant I really like. It’s strategy simplified (well almost) and well worth a quick glance. Kicks off with Costas Markides, Professor London Business School and his frank views on the state of modern strategic discipline.

Visit Presentation

We reviewed all aspects of the trip, planning,  disaster management and eventual rescue. It’s a great way to review the elements of leadership, how plans must remain flexible, and team culture, alongside a solid direction really helps when you get yourself trapped in ice. Shackleton proved a great example of entrepreneurship, self-promotion and of obsessive dedication.

I found the ad Shackleton use in the The Times to recruit for this expedition – showing also the value of a sense of humour when asking people to take part in difficult adventures. I love the honesty of ‘safe return doubtful’.

]]> http://hivehealth.com/2010/05/recruitment-advertising/feed/ 0 http://hivehealth.com/2010/04/blood-sweat-and-beers/ http://hivehealth.com/2010/04/blood-sweat-and-beers/#comments Wed, 21 Apr 2010 08:58:32 +0000 Debbie Cramer http://hivehealth.com/?p=1706 Following a training trip to Jerusalem – the West End’s current must see play, Michael and I (2 x Hive writers) found a barman in the West End willing to serve a last minute pint, albeit with attitude. They sit down and begin discussing Rooster, the main character in the play Jerusalem.

D: That ending. Were the giants really coming?

M: No.

D: I think they were.

M: It was the old bill. 200 of them coming to chuck him out.

D: Then why did the trees shuffle so much?

M: Maybe they were morris dancing.

D: It was the footfall of the ancients.

M. Gutsy scriptwriting. Ambiguous.
D: Raw.

M. All nature and roots. Rooster was the only one with roots, even though he was getting moved. He was immoveable.

D: He needed the giants to save him. He was human.  Couldn’t express himself. Couldn’t love his kid properly.

M: Limping around, cough getting worse…

D. Couldn’t jump Stonehenge.

M: Council says no.

D: He was losing hope in the end, bleeding away. As hopeless and human as the rest.

M: But bleeding like the lamb of God.

D: Rare blood.

M: Expensive. I wonder what type?

D:  Wood nymph.

M. (Examining his veins) Do you think my blood could be worth 600 quid a pint?

D: We should get down to the donor place.

M: Yeah, one lunchtime.

D: That needle is very, very large.

M: Square up to it dude. Be the Rooster.

D: Giving life to others!

M: Giving drugs to others.

D: They don’t give you drugs in the blood donor caravan, just tea and a biscuit.

M: No-one was coming to save him. He couldn’t walk away.

D: He would be toppled, break off at the roots. He couldn’t save himself.

M: But he saved the goldfish. And he would rise again like the lamb.

D: Restore the clean and green, like the poem.

M: Burn down the new builds. Call his mates over, drink more.

D: Ah, how beautiful to be English.

M: You’re South African.

D: People were attracted to him but they were scared of him.

M: Because he could tell the future.

D:  Then you admit, the magic was real.

M: Ambiguous.

D: Magic, terror, drugs.

M. Realism. Ugly. A modern plague.

D: Do you think they use the same goldfish every night?

With learning strategy in our minds the last 2 months have seen us kick off Hive Poly, a collection of lectures, articles and workshops aimed at demystifying the world of strategy, decision making and big business for our nearest and dearest bees. I landed this plum job, having previous as unofficial Head of Graduate Recruitment and Training (HOGRAT) at the old place.

If you were to measure my love of strategy in kilos – I could clearly demonstrate unfaithful infatuation. My office at home is filled with dozens of business books given up halfway through pure boredom. Most having been binned as soon as their predictable lust for lecture-tour-nouvelle-terminology sets in.

I still end up swapping most of the chapters for the fundamentals learned running various dodgy ventures in my youth, or whilst watching my folks and their businesses or from a bizarre hunger for military strategy. This love of all military thinking was discovered when I mistakenly woke up in a lecture on Clausewitz. I also discovered Amy Dinsdale that day – happy days. Clausewitz remained, Amy headed off with some EastEnder from Stoke City Football Club. A lesson in engagement and resources there and then.

Anyway – returning to the point. Planning and teaching strategy is something we have always wanted to do here. In our industry its usual done on the job – or done way too late – shame on us. And as I never found anything that could be cut and pasted; at some point we just had to do it. Getting it right is an illusive goal, where to start? What to cover? Get senior strategists in to talk or MBA style graphs and analyses or buy a market stall and stock it for a week with eager strategy beavers? Learn the old school way with crap products in Berwick Street market.

We took a predictable middle road and kicked off reviewing small local industries (Soho – typically providing court case collateral), their approach to a market, positioning, customer group etc and discussing each case by case amongst a group of us. It has been really interesting for me, watching the tools/terms I use all the time being defined and discovered. I have been forced to give thought to my own clarity. To be party to this new group of critical thinkers and their discussions has been really humbling. I would never get a job here.

Today we have just kicked off on the next bit. Upping the academia, by beginning a series of borrowed Harvard MBA case studies. The Harvard approach is pretty cool, a group sit around in a semi circle and get facilitated agreeing or disagreeing with each other. Educational Gold dust. This week featured a forthright company, a new business opportunity and a pretty big management decision. I was lucky enough to get hold of a film of this case study debate amongst the 2006 MBA graduate class – and the conclusions of the HBS elite and our lots are surprisingly aligned. Except “without the bullshit” to quote one of our most terminological intolerant. Apparently the MBAs termed “bait and switch” strategy is just plain lying, and stupidly short term.

For me, I am getting loads from this, the clear parallels from SEXSEXSEX Ltd. and Harvard, our best and their best is proving really insightful and I hope not a bad way of getting a faster understanding of business decision making.

This entertainment came in the form of an afternoon with Paul Smith, sharing his views on inspiration, business, customer satisfaction and being polite. Equipped with wild gesticulations, vivid facial expressions, and a bit of dancing he provided a total inspiration for us. It was hard not to be enthralled by him and totally hit the mark – a perfect replacement for what could have been an afternoon of Murder she wrote.

Paul built his archetypal British label on a foundation of playfulness, an impeccable eye and a steely business sense. Since setting up his first shop with wife Pauline Denyer in 1970 – he’s been knighted, had his own exhibition and owns 230 ‘individual’ stores worldwide. But more than any of this, he proved to be a total gentleman, true to himself, and elegant in his honesty. Classically quirky to the core.

His views on globalization, homogenization, and characterless multinational organisations were bluntly put. He willed us to strive for character and difference, to not just repeat what is successful, and role it out country to country but to strive to build on that success, to challenge it, or risk becoming yesterday.

His views on success and happiness were nicely encapsulated in him recommending we all ask ourselves “what’s the point of you”, defining what we love doing, and doing it. No more complicated than that.  Awesome.

As the week drew nearer and the more I thought about it, the less I realised I knew about the company, heathcare, communications and hands on science. My cluelessness was sorted in my first day after a chat with Ian – its dead easy – their world is all about conversations, stories and who’s involved.

On arrival at my desk, I was greated by my pretty full timetable for the week. To the inexperienced work experiencer this probably sounds like a bit of a nightmare. WRONG.  My week was full things to do, which was brilliant. Whatsmore, these things didn’t involve any photocopying or tea making, but casting, filming, editing, proofing and the odd lunch, amongst other stuff.

This is part of the reason my week was so good. I got a varied look at what goes on at Hive and all the different modes of communication they utilise. All the team were patient and took the time out to help me out and explain things.

It was interesting to get an insight into what I now know as strategy/marketing/branding of new and old drugs as well as looking at novel ways to converse with the end user.

To me it seems Hive likes to look for a different angle on things, which is challenging and creates a good bit of office banter.

It was good to be a part.

Case in point is the numerous phrases that describe essentially the same thing — brand essence. Some networks have gone so far as to trademark their terms and the processes they use for determination. End result = terminology galore and as much process explanation as strategic clarification.

Spending some time on holiday last week – I revisited Kotler (it was this or be left with a book about a girl in love with a complex man she couldn’t love in the world within which she had to live and her struggle to make do with an empty life with a simple but good man who provided everything he could but not enough for her to be happy) – a comparitively magnificent book on marketing that I first brought to enlighten me when I first came into the industry. It’s a dry read and although wanders into the theoretical it’s pretty refreshing in its lack of terms.

I like Kotler’s steadfast use of the term Unique Selling Proposition (in my mind a potential forerunner of brand essence), a concept developed and named by Rosser Reeves of Ted Bates & Company. A 50 year old term that has stood the test of time and been universally adopted. Some argue that with the advent of product parity it has evolved into the Emotional Selling Proposition. ESP is certainly a concept much closer to our common understanding of “brand essence,” as its focus is on the brand’s intangible differentiator. Although I find it hard to believe that me-too products are a recent phenomenon I think that the ‘U’ still stands up whether that be a feature led ‘portability’ or due to some emotional unmet need like ‘popularity’. Either way to be unique emotionally or functionally is still to be different.

This book seems to either have been penned prior to or has ignored the multitude of copyrighted verbs describing the logical processes for develop brands by agencies needing with some irony, you guessed it – a USP. I would love to see each agencies model worked through with their own brand – please someone in procurement construct this legend! Two birds (process understanding & agency offer) with 1 stone. Please, please, discounted please.

Reviewing the alternatives to Rosser’s, here is a collection of words and phrases used to describe what is unique about a brand:  Brand Essence, Brand Soul, Brand Heart, Brand Mantra, Brand Promise, Signature Strength, Core Strength, Core Attribute, Brand Description, Brand Differentiator, Brand Uniqueness, Brand Individuality, Brand Meaning, Brand’s Central Nature, Brand Proposition…

Any more?

 As usual Tom Fishburne’s nailed the process here.

Ps. A note to purists: I admit that there may be shades of difference between some of these terms. You could make a case that brand personality and brand promise, for example, mean two completely different things. My point is that the differences are largely semantical and do little to advance the clarity of the branding process.