Can Videogames Promote Healthier Aging?

April 23, 2012 - PRLog -- Contact: Vicki Cohn, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., (914) 740-2100, ext. 2156, vcohn@liebertpub.com

Can Videogames Promote Healthier Aging?

New Rochelle, NY-- Videogame technology is proving to be a valuable tool for helping people of all ages improve lifestyle and health habits and manage disease.  New research is showing that exergames have significant benefits for older adults by providing cognitive stimulation and a source of social interaction, exercise, and fun.  Thus, the games help them to lead fuller, more independent lives for a longer time, according to two articles in Games for Health Journal, a new bimonthly peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc (http://www.liebertpub.com).  The articles are available free on the Games for Health Journal website (http://www.liebertpub.com/g4h).

“The elderly often forsake their lifelong activities in exchange for the safety, security, and care of institutional living,” says Editor-in-Chief Bill Ferguson, PhD. “This trade-off need not require the sacrifice of physical activity and fitness. Furthermore, videogames offer an escape from routine. All of these benefits can improve the well-being of elderly adults.”

Digital games offer a home-based method to support behavior modification, motivating patients to take better care of themselves and to self-mange chronic conditions. Recommendations for how to use and integrate videogame technology in the rehabilitation and training of older adults are presented in the review article “Interactive Videogame Technologies to Support Independence in the Elderly.” (http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1089/g4h.2011...) Videogames offer a good alternative to traditional forms of aerobic exercise, according to the authors, Hannah Marston, PhD, German Sport University Cologne, Germany, and Stuart Smith, PhD, Neuroscience Research, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia.

Another article in the issue describes a study performed in three European countries that defined and compared the specific features of videogames that would most interest older adults. Unai Diaz-Orueta, PhD, Matia Gerontological Institute Foundation-INGEMA (Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain), and colleagues from Spain, The Netherlands, and Greece identified several main factors that motivate interest in gaming: the social aspect of the experience; the challenge it presents; the combination of cognitive and physical activity; and the ability to gain specific skills as a result of gaming. They present their findings in the article entitled “What is the Key for Older People to Show Interest in Playing Digital Learning Games? Initial Qualitative Findings from the LEAGE Project on a Multicultural European Sample.” (http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1089/g4h.2011...)

About the Journal
Games for Health Journal (http://www.liebertpub.com/g4h) breaks new ground as the first to address this emerging and increasingly important area of health care.  The Journal provides a bimonthly forum in print and online for academic and clinical researchers, game designers and developers, health care providers, insurers, and information technology leaders. Articles in the Journal explore the use of game technology in a wide variety of clinical applications in disease prevention, promotion, and monitoring, including nutrition, weight management, medication adherence, diabetes monitoring, post-traumatic stress disorder, Alzheimer’s, and cognitive, mental, emotional, and behavioral health.

About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (http://www.liebertpub.com) is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking and Telemedicine & e-Health. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 70 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available at Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (http://www.liebertpub.com).