Designing and Evaluating Games for Health and Wellbeing

Games and game technology can improve health, wellbeing, and the delivery of healthcare and are capable of changing people’s behavior for the better. While the outcomes of much of this work have been well-documented, there is a dearth of systematic research on how we design and evaluate games for health and wellbeing. This Research Topic aims to highlight the science and practice of the design and evaluation of such games and game technologies, with specific attention paid to issues of equity, inclusion, accessibility, innovative methods, and effective co-design processes.

We will address questions such as:

·        Who are we designing for and who are we designing with when developing and evaluating human-centered games for health and wellbeing?

·        What do we need to know about designing and evaluating such games in low-socioeconomic status contexts in order to advance goals around health equity?

·        How do game mechanics and other features of a game translate into specific health and wellbeing outcomes?

·        What methods contribute to an understanding of players and their experiences during the game development process?

Games designed and developed for the purpose of improving physical or mental health continue to grow in popularity; however, information on how these games are designed, developed, and evaluated is often not articulated in efficacy-focused publications. Because decisions around iterative game design are often not explicated or justified, researchers who use games for preventing, assessing, or treating mental or physical health continue to ‘reinvent the wheel’, which limits progress of the field as a whole. Further, assumptions are often made in games for health research about what systems can be labeled as a game, whether a game is engaging or enjoyable, or whether games help combat attrition in health applications. By focusing on the design and evaluation of games for mental and physical health instead of their efficacy, this Research Topic will help guide the field towards more standardized and rigorous design and evaluation processes needed to advance games for health.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to, games designed for outcomes related to:

·        Cognitive, mental, emotional, physical, and behavioral health

·        Rehabilitation

·        Children’s health

·        Disease prevention, self-management, adherence, and health promotion

·        Nutrition

·        Weight management

·        Obesity

·        Reducing health disparities

·        Substance use/addiction

Rather than focusing solely on outcomes, we welcome contributions that center a discussion of design methods and processes. In addition to Original Research and Methods, we also encourage the submission of Perspective, Reviews, Opinions, and other types of contributions.

Prof. Fiellin holds equity with Playbl, Inc., a small commercial venture that focuses on the distribution of evidence-based videogames for risk reduction and prevention in youth and young adults. This relationship is extensively managed by Dr. Fiellin and her academic institution. All other Topic Editors declare no competing interests.