The University of California in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Pioneer Portfolio have been working on a fantastic health games site this year for their national program Health Games Research.  Health Games Research funds research to advance the innovation and effectiveness of digital games and game technologies to improve health.

Just recently they launched the bulk of their website content in the form of a database, the Health Games Research Database, which has been getting quite a bit of attention these last few days.  Why?  Because it’s the largest database of health games and related conferences, organizations, publications, and resources to date.  As of today they boast:

• 74 Conferences and Events
• 337 Games
• 526 Organizations
• 398 Publications
• 125 Resources

The interview.

When I asked Dr. Debra Lieberman, director of Health Games Research and communication researcher at the University of California Santa Barbara about the undertaking, here’s what she had to say.

HG: Why did you decide to create this massive health games database?

DL: We decided to create the Health Games Research Database because there are so many people who are looking for information about health games and related research.  For example, for the past 15 years I have received at least 40 or 50 requests per month from people who want to talk with me to learn more about research, publications, behavioral health strategies, design, development, publishing, marketing, people, events, game titles, funding opportunities,and business ventures related to health games.  It is impossible to respond to all the requests and also get my own work done, and the number of requests has been increasing as the field continues to grow. I wanted to develop the database so I could point people to a dynamic resource they could explore to find the information they need.

HG: How many people did it take to make this database a reality?

DL: The information in the database was gathered and organized by the Health Games Research staff with the help of 10 student assistants at the University of California, Santa Barbara.  I especially want to thank our team’s project manager for the database, Erica Biely, and the deputy director at Health Games Research, Maria Chesley Fisk, for their diligent work and valuable ideas.  Erica has been the driving force of this project and we appreciate her many contributions.

HG: I assume aggregating all of this information was costly due to the number of staff required.  What was your major source of funding?

DL: We are very grateful to the Pioneer Portfolio of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, led by Pioneer team leader and senior program officer Paul Tarini, for their financial and collegial support for this project.

HG: As we all know, most of the information on health games is pretty scattered.  Can people make suggestions for additions to the database that may have been missed?

DL: We welcome community input to the database.  It has a Recommendation Form where people can suggest new content or revisions to existing content.  There are now more than 1,200 items in the database and we plan to add a lot more, and we would like to hear from our colleagues in a variety of fields who have more items to suggest.

HG: What an amazing accomplishment–congratulations!  How does it feel now that the database is complete?

DL: The three of us are very excited to have the database to use ourselves and to share with our colleagues in the wide-ranging health games field. My hope is that the database will spark new ideas and collaborations in the field that will help it grow in constructive and exciting directions.

A special healthGAMERS thanks.

On a personal note, I just wanted to extend my gratitude to Dr. Lieberman for answering my questions about their exciting database. As you can imagine, Dr. Lieberman is an extremely busy individual, but she always takes the time to respond, regardless of how small or large the request. The Health Games Research team was also kind enough to list our little blog on their resources page from the very beginning which has really assisted us in creating a dynamic, diverse reading audience.  Thank you so much Dr. Lieberman and team!

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) just announced that more than $1.85 million in grants for research that will offer unprecedented insight into how digital games can improve players’ health behaviors and outcomes. With funding from RWJF’s Health Games Research national program, nine research teams across the country will conduct extensive studies to discover how games can improve the health of the public.

Health Games Research is supported by an $8.25 million grant from RWJF’s Pioneer Portfolio, which funds innovative projects that may lead to breakthrough improvements in the future of health and health care. The national program, which conducts, supports, and disseminates research to improve the quality and impact of health games, is headquartered at the University of California, Santa Barbara.  It is directed by Debra Lieberman, Ph.D., communication researcher in the university’s Institute for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Research and a leading expert in the research and design of interactive media for learning
and health behavior change.

“Digital games are interactive and experiential, and so they can engage people in powerful ways to enhance learning and health behavior change, especially when they are designed on the basis of well-researched strategies,” said Lieberman.  “The studies funded by Health Games Research will provide cutting-edge, evidence-based strategies that designers will be able to use in the future to make their health games more effective.”

The winning research teams.

As always, competition was tough with 185 groups competing for nine spots.  Each winner has been awarded between $100,000 and $300,000 to lead one- to two-year studies of digital games that engage players in physical activity and/or motivate them to improve how they take care of themselves through healthy changes in lifestyle; prevention behaviors; cognitive, social or physical skills; chronic disease self-management; and/or adherence to a medical treatment plan.  And without further ado, the winners!

1. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA)  Reward Circuitry, Autism and Games that Teach Social Perceptual Skills—tests effects of facial perception games on the brain activity and facial perception skills of 8- to 12-year-old children who have been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
2. George Washington University (Washington, DC)  Active-Adventure: Investigating a Novel Exergaming Genre in Inner City School Physical Education Programs—compares physical, psychological and behavioral effects of three activities: (1) playing Winds of Orbis, a video game that involves an upper and lower body workout as the player moves in order to control a character’s movements in the game; (2) playing Dance Dance Revolution, a popular video game that provides a lower body workout as players dance on a pad that detects their dance steps; and (3) engaging in traditional physical education activities at school.
3. Georgetown University (Washington, DC)  Wii Active Exergame Intervention for Low-Income African- American Obese and Overweight Adolescents—assigns obese and overweight urban high school students to (1) play the Wii Active competitively after school with the goal of lowering their body mass index (BMI), (2) play the Wii Active cooperatively in a team after school with the goal of helping each other reduce their BMI, or (3) play with no access to Wii Active  after school (control condition).
4. Long Island University (Brooklyn, NY)  Dance Video Game Training and Falling in Parkinson’s Disease—compares the use of a commercially available dance pad video game, Dance Dance Revolution, to two traditional treatment options that help people with Parkinson’s Disease reduce their risk of falling by increasing their balance, strength, endurance, motor coordination and visual-motor integration.
5. Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI)  Buddy Up! Harnessing Group Dynamics to Boost Motivation to Exercise. Research has found that people will work harder with a partner in a strenuous physical task than when working alone, especially if the partner is moderately better at the task.  This study provides a virtual partner that engages in exercises with participants on the Eye Toy: Kinetic camera-based video game.
6. Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI)  Short-Term and Long-Term Effectiveness of Exergames for Young Adults—investigates effects of the Mount Olympus game, a 3D fantasy role-playing game that requires players to move their upper and lower body in order to control their character’s movements throughout the world of the game.
7. Teachers College, Columbia University (New York, NY)  Lit: A Game Intervention for Nicotine Smokers—develops and evaluates a smoking reduction game delivered on a mobile phone.
8. University of California, San Francisco (San Francisco, CA)  A Video Game to Enhance Cognitive Health in Older Adults.  This study aims to improve these and other related cognitive skills by using a driving game in which players practice paying attention to relevant information, such as traffic signs, and ignoring irrelevant information, such as billboards.
9. University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA) Robot Motivator: Towards Adaptive Health Games for Productive Long-Term Interaction — examines the influence of virtual social characters on people’s motivation to exercise.

For those even remotely interested in health games, the newest report from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, “Game Changer: Investing in digital play to advance children’s learning and health,” is a must read.  The basic conclusion of the report is twofold:

1. Games are effective learning tools that can improve the lives of children, not just from an educational standpoint but also from a health standpoint.
2. There is a desperate need for more research and more funds on the use of digital games for improving the health of children.  R&D initiatives at the federal and state levels are a must, and we need to establish innovative methods of funding to move this field forward.

Cooney take a bow.

I have to say that the Cooney Center did an amazing job on this report.  Its quality and depth tells us that influential groups are really starting to pay attention to health games.  They are starting to invest their time and money into understanding how to further the industry. The Center’s research is solid, and their conclusions, well, let’s just say I couldn’t have said it better myself.  The list of interviewees ranges from Director of Health Games Research Debra Lieberman to President of Federation of American Scientists Henry Kelly.  Someone did their homework.  Here’s what I thought to be the major highlights:

• Appendix A – A great list of learning and health games with excellent descriptions.  I only caught a minor mistake here and there which is pretty impressive.
• Recommendations section – Based on their research, the Center recommends five major steps to move the field forward:
  • Implement R&D initiatives at federal and state levels for research.
  • Create innovative partnerships to develop more games.
  • Support adult guidance for children’s digital activities to develop a human infrastructure.
  • Modernize public media to move education from television programming to the digital age.
  • Initiate a broad public dialogue about digital media and games to educate the public.
• Games for Health section – Of course this would be a highlight for me, but they really did a nice job categorizing games into those for physical fitness, for healthy habits, for disease management and prevention, and for public health.  They even mentioned Playnormous as “among the handful of children’s games to tackle issues related to obesity.”  They somehow completely missed NIH as a federal agency funding health game development (ex: Escape from Diab and Nanoswarm: Invasion From Inner Space), but we’ll let that one slide.  Kudos to Playnormous for making the list!
• The References section – Thanks to the Center’s report, I’ve been able to add ten new peer-reviewed journal articles to the healthGAMERS Research section.  If you have others you’d like me to add please let me know.

About the Joan Ganz Cooney Center.

The mission of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop is to foster innovation in children’s learning through digital media.  The Center supports action research, encourages partnershps to connect child development experts and eductors with interactive media and technology leaders, and mobilizes public and private investment in promising and proven new media technologies for children.  For other relevant readings, see the following publications from the Center:

• Challenge Paper: The Power of Pow! Wham!: Children, Digital Media and Our Nation’s Future
• Policy Brief: Getting Over the Slump: Innovation Strategies to Promote Children’s Learning
• Market Scan Report: D is for Digital

When thinking about going after a grant, it always helps to look at past winners to ensure that your idea is a good match with the awarding foundation.  The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Health Games Research initiative just announced its 2009 Call for Proposals for the next innovative Health Game idea.

Already thought about applying?  Make sure your amazing health game concept matches the research goals of RWJF before filling out all that paperwork.  Here are the groundbreaking ideas that received funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Games Research national program last year:

• Cornell University, Department of Communication (Ithaca, NY) – Mindless Eating Challenge – a mobile phone game for younger adolescents that rewards their good health habits and food choices.
• Indiana University, School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation (Bloomington, IN) – BloomingLife: The Skeleton Chase – an alternative reality game designed to promote physical activity and healthy lifestyles among college freshmen.
• Maine Medical Center (Portland, ME) – Family-Based Exergaming with Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) – to identify impacts of the popular dance pad game on families with at least one overweight child, aged 9 to 17.
• Union College, Department of Psychology (Schenectady, NY) – Seniors Cyber-Cycling with a Virtual Team – to identify individual and situational factors that influence exercise behaviors and health outcomes in community-dwelling older adults, aged 50+.
• University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine (La Jolla, CA) – Behavioral Choice Theory Approach to Testing Exertainment for Adolescent Physical Activity – to identify health behavior change principles used in a variety of commercially available exergames and their impact on players’ physical activity levels.
• University of Central Florida, College of Medicine (Orlando, FL) – Practicing Relapse Prevention in Artificial-Reality Environments: [PREPARE] – a Game-Based Therapy Maintenance Tool to investigate role-playing games designed to enable people aged 18 to 65 that are diagnosed with alcohol abuse or  dependence to practice skills that can help them prevent real-world relapses.
• University of Florida, College of Public Health and Health Professions (Gainesville, FL) – Action Video Games to Improve Everyday Cognitive Function in Older Adults – to explore the effects of an action-adventure driving video game (Playstation 2’s “Crazy Taxi”) on the visual attention skills of a group of community-dwelling adults, aged 65 and older.
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Public Health (Chapel Hill, NC) – Presence: Predicting Sensory and Control Effects of Console Video Games in Young Adults – to investigate motivations to expend energy during video game play for people aged 18 to 35.
• University of South Carolina Research Foundation (Columbia, SC) – Commercially Available Interactive Video Games for Individuals with Chronic Mobility and Balance Deficits Post-Stroke – to investigate the potential of physical activity video games to serve as innovative, cost-effective ways to help people recover motor skills after experiencing a stroke.
• University of Southern California, School of Cinematic Arts (Los Angeles, CA) – Effectiveness of Social Mobile Networked Games in Promoting Active Lifestyles for Wellness – using cell phones to deliver “Wellness Partners,” a character-driven social mobile networked game, to children and adults aged 12 to 44.
• University of Vermont, School of Medicine (Burlington, VT) – Breath Biofeedback Video Game for Children with Cystic Fibrosis – to explore whether a breath biofeedback video game can improve cystic fibrosis patients’ self-administration awareness of their respiratory status.
• University of Washington, School of Medicine (Seattle, WA) – Video Games for Dietary Behavior Change and Improved Glycemic Control in Diabetes – to investigate health impacts of online mobile mini-games for people with type 2 diabetes, aged 18 and older.

More information.

For more information, see the Health Games Research initiative page all about the 2008 awardees.  Feeling inspired yourself?  Visit the RWJF Health Games Research Call for Proposals 2009 page for how to submit your own idea.  Proposals are due April 8, 2009.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation announced its 2009 Call for Proposals today.  A wide variety of researchers are encouraged to apply, including those with little experience in the field.  Submissions should be groundbreaking digital interactive game ideas that improve players’ physical activity and/or self-care.  Research ideas must also test one or more of these topics:

• behavioral health theories
• game design theories
• learning theories
• attitude change
• skill development

Grant details and important dates.

• 15 research grants to be awarded
• Each totaling $100K and $300K
• $2M given out for the year
• Call announced January 15, 2009
• Proposals due April 8, 2009
• Grant start date September 1, 2008
  

A program every health gamer should know about.

The Health Games Research is an $8.25M national program that “supports outstanding research to enhance the quality and impact of interactive games used to improve health.”  The program is directed by Dr. Debra Lieberman of the University of California, Santa Barbara.  Dr. Lieberman is the creator of several Nintendo-based games for health including Packy & Marlon (type 1 diabetes management) and Bronkie the Bronchiasaurus (asthma management).

For more information, visit the Health Games Research Call for Proposals page or see the Health Games Research page for further information about this amazing RWJF program.