Institute For The Future

Foundation funds games for health research

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation launched yesterday Health Games Research, an $8.25 million initiative to support research that promotes the quality and effectiveness of interactive games to improve health. The press release explains the goals of the initial call for proposals:

[U]p to $2 million [will be awarded] to support studies that investigate principles of effective health game design. In this initial round of funding, grant recipients will focus on games that engage players in physical activity and/or games that promote and improve players' self-care. The latter category includes games that influence people's health behaviors and outcomes related to lifestyle, prevention, adherence to medical treatment plans and/or chronic disease self-management.

Explains RWJF program officer Chinwe Onyekere, M.P.H., (who I met last week at our Open Health conference),

While we have seen dramatic expansion within the health games field, we lack solid evidence to help identify when a game—used alone or in combination with other interventions—can improve people's health, and what specific difference it makes. Studies funded through Health Games Research will produce important, action-oriented results that will help this growing field make a meaningful difference in the health and health care of all Americans.

I was turned on to this story at the blog site "Future-Making Serious Games," which is a useful source on the topic of games and health.