Hive Health

We all know that despite the existence of effective medicines and highly trained healthcare professionals, a majority of patients don’t comply with the treatment regimens or lifestyle changes that could save their lives. To help address the psychological and behavioural barriers that hinder adherence and behavioural change, healthcare communicators and practitioners have been looking to one of the most innovative and engaging media we have today: video games.

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 One well-known example is Packy and Marlon, which was originally made for the Super Nintendo game console system, and modified for children with diabetes.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.

Last night saw Mike and the delights of www.findwine.co.uk come and visit. Every month or so we have an entrepreneur in for a session on hunches, business strategy and decision making. We kick off with a presentation on proposition, model and plans, and follow  with us posing loads of questions.

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.

We have been exploring gaming.

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?

I have another Hive University Strategy School tomorrow morning for the suits here.

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