Games for Health Journal

Games for Health Journal is the first peer-reviewed publication organized around healthcare games. It’s scope intends to include:

• Nutrition, weight management, and obesity
• Disease prevention, self-management, and adherence
• Cognitive behavior and mental and emotional health
• Clinical training, simulation, diagnosis, and treatment
• Rehabilitation and therapy
• The psychology of game design
• Social influence and peer groups in health games
• Health game sensors
• Mobile health games

Home page: online.liebertpub.com/toc/g4h/1/1
The journal is published by Mary Ann Liebert and their first issue is now available. It contains editorials, interviews, a roundtable discussion, a program profile, and original articles. All of the initial issue’s articles are open access. The table of contents can be accessed by email subscription or pushed to you by RSS. We anticipate this timely journal will help integrate research into clinical practice.

Measured family-supported Wii use

Case report
Berg, P., Becker, T., Martian, A., Primrose, K. D. & Wingen, J.
Motor control outcomes following Nintendo wii use by a child with down syndrome. Pediatric Physical Therapy 2012 Spring;42(1):78-84

Link to abstract: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22207475

The benefit of this study is that it is well documented and easily reproduced.

Objective: A child with Down Syndrome plays family-supported Wii for eight weeks, tested before and after to compare motor and self-efficacy outcomes.

Process: An 11-year-old boy, eldest of three siblings had minimal prior exposure to the Wii. Family members were encouraged to participate in the suite of four games the boy chose. He was encouraged to play for at least 20 minutes at a time, four times a week for eight weeks. Outcome measures assessed change in activity and body structure and function, and included measures of strength, agility, coordination, balance, visual perceptual skills and body composition. The tests administered were the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills (TVPS), Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC), Perceived Physical Ability Scale (PPSA), Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOT-2), Biodex BioSway Balance System, and the BodyStat Quadscan 4000.

Findings: The results show positive significant changes in BOT-2 scores for balance, manual dexterity, and running speed and dexterity across the 4 games. Postural stability and limits of stability were improved (undeclared significance) according to balance system data.