Can Digital Games Help Seniors Improve their Quality of Life?

2018

Our Canadian project is investigating the use of digital games to enhance seniors’ quality of life. By digital games we mean games played face-to-face or online on a computer, handheld device, or videogame machine. A shift is occurring towards an aging population as the proportion of people aged 60 and over is growing rapidly. Successful aging, that is, maintaining an independent, positive and meaningful quality of life, is a continual challenge for seniors, yet it is paramount for individual seniors, their families, and society. The potential for technology to support seniors living well and experiencing things that make life worth living has received much less attention than the mental and social challenges they face. However, evidence suggests that technology can provide people with meaningful and engaging activities that are stimulating, enjoyable and fun. In particular, technologybased games promise many benefits to seniors, but research evidence is sparse about whether and how...

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, 2018

Background: Background: This study explored the perceptions of older adults on the use of a custom built interactive video game (IVG) in promoting health and well-being among the older adult population. Method: Method: This qualitative study used a phenomenological approach and enrolled 10 older adults over the age of 65 years in a client-centered, custom-built interactive video game program. This program was designed to promote activity tolerance, balance, range of motion, cognitive skills, and enjoyment through physical activity. The participants completed up to 12 Coin Catcher IVG sessions over a 4-week period. A postprogram, semi-structured, and audio-recorded interview explored their perceptions and experiences of the IVG. Results: Results: The participant interview transcripts were individually coded, categorized, and then collapsed into broader themes. The three themes emerged as: I was thinking all the time, it is a good workout, and I thought it was fun. Conclusion: Conclusion: The custom built IVG is perceived by the older adult population to be engaging and meaningful while promoting physical performance. Comments The authors report for this study, an interactive video game program, The Coin Catcher, was designed by a team of health professionals, including the first and third author, with the objective to engage older people in a fun, user friendly game to promote functional mobility, range of motion, and cognitive skills. No compensation was paid to the authors for their role.

International Journal of Aging Research, 2019

Digital games can help older adults to entertain themselves, socialize with others, engage their cognitive functions, and enhance emotional states. This study surveyed 463 older Canadian adults to identify the digital games they had played and investigate whether playing them was associated with perceived socioemotional and cognitive benefits. The most widely reported socioemotional benefits were developing self-confidence, dealing with loneliness, and connecting with family. The most widely reported cognitive benefits were focusing, memory improvement, improved reaction speed, and problem solving. In the socioemotional category, connecting with current friends and connecting with family were both associated with strategy games, while connecting with current friends was also associated with sport games. In the cognitive category, both problem solving and speed in reacting/responding were associated with arcade games. Results show that playing digital games has the potential to be an intervention tool to improve older adults' wellbeing.

Media and Communication, 2023

The growing use of digital platforms among older adults has brought increased challenges to the design and development process, thus requiring considering age-related needs and changes. Nonetheless, a growing body of research suggests that different types of applications of digital platforms, i.e., digital games, can foster new opportunities to encourage active and healthy ageing (AHA) by promoting knowledge acquisition, developing competences, fostering well-being, and deepening social connections. Therefore, this study aims to assess older adults' perspectives and participation in digital game-related strategies and how these can foster AHA. A mixed-methods approach was applied, resorting to field notes and a questionnaire, involving 18 participants aged between 63 and 81, at the Ageing Lab (Laboratório do Envelhecimento). Through 10 exploratory digital gaming-related sessions over approximately two months, participants were introduced to game-related strategies and online communities. Overall, this study sustained previous research about the influence of digital games and online communities in the promotion of AHA, by encouraging participation in society, acquisition of new digital competences in the dimensions of information and data literacy, communication and collaboration, and safety; and maintaining one's health and well-being. Moreover, findings suggest that continued contact with information and communication technologies stimulates digital proficiency, thus further fostering inclusion in an increasingly digital society.

Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Computer Supported Education, 2014

Gerontology researchers have demonstrated that cognitive and social factors are keys that may sometimes outweigh physical conditions in determining life satisfaction. Social interaction and cognitive challenge are consistently identified as key elements to enhance older adults' quality of life. Digital games can offer many potential benefits to older adults in a motivating and playful way, such as increased social interaction and maintenance of cognitive functioning. This paper describes some key results regarding socio-emotional and cognitive benefits as well as barriers reported from an early survey of 463 Canadian older adults who play digital games. The results demonstrate that a diverse group of older adults are actively playing digital games on a regular basis and that players report numerous socio-emotional and cognitive benefits and few difficulties. These results are promising and will be followed up with a variety of experimental studies.

Computers in Human Behavior, 2013

The purpose of this investigation was to examine differences in psychological functioning (e.g., wellbeing, affect, depression, and social functioning) between older adults who play digital games comp ared to those older adults that do not play digital games. Analysis was conducted on a sample of 140 independently living older adults with an average age of 77.47 years (SD = 7.31). Participants were divided into three groups (Regular, Occasional Gamers, and Non-gamers)-60% of the sample was either a Regular or Occasional Gamer. Differences among the groups were found for well-being, negative affect, social functionin g, and depression with Regular and Occasional Gamers performing better, on average, than Non-gaming older adults. Findings suggest that playing may serve as a positive activity associated wit h successful aging.

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2015

A literature review was conducted as part of a development project to flesh out a number of issues: How can game component design be adapted to accommodate seniors' physical or intellectual limitations? How should a game interface and its components be displayed on the screen to facilitate game navigation? What restrictions should be considered when selecting computer game equipment to be used by seniors? What are the guidelines for efficient game audio, video and text readability? This communication first presents the pedagogical and technological adaptations of the online educational game: "Live Well, Live Healthy!" This adaptation of the Bingo game has allowed us to introduce learning content with the objective of improving the quality of life for seniors. Second, the methodology used for the validation of the ergonomics of this educational game with seniors and third, the results of validation and the recommendations from the seniors to improve the ergonomic conditions.

MOJ Gerontology & Geriatrics, 2019

Introduction: Considering the increase in human life and increased disorders such as depression and loneliness, especially in the elderly, many studies have been conducted on the emergence of new and affordable technology for the treatment of mental disorders. Among the innovative technologies, in recent decades, we have seen an increase in the use of digital interventions with the nature of the game in the treatment of mental disorders. Purpose: To review existing studies that examines the impact of video games on depression and loneliness in the elderly. Methodology: This review study was conducted using the search engines on the google scholar, science direct, Scopus, Pubmed, Magiran, SID and Proquest databases from 2007 to January 2019. Articles that had inclusion criteria were reviewed. Findings: Out of articles related to the subject, nine articles came up with a final review, of which three evaluated the impact of Nintendo wii's games, 5 studies on the effects of exer game and a study of the effect of virtual reality games. Five studies examined the impact of video games on depression and four studies investigated their effect on loneliness. Most of these articles have a positive effect on depression and loneliness in the elderly. Conclusion: According to the results, video games improve depression and loneliness in the elderly. Most articles support the positive impact of these games on depression and loneliness in the elderly. Recommendation: Considering the positive impact of video games and the increased interest of the elderly in these games, it is recommended that video games be included in the daily agenda of the elderly, and given the greater impact of it in groups, the conditions for performing these games in groups should be provided.

Prime Archives in Medicine, 2020

Background: Recently, many studies have been conducted to investigate the effects of exergames on the social well-being among older adults. Objective: The aim of this paper is to synthesise existing studies and provide an overall picture on the social effects of exergames on older adults. Methods: A comprehensive literature search with inclusive criteria was conducted in major social science bibliographic databases. The characteristics exergames, participants, methodology, as well as outcome measurements were extracted from the relevant studies included in the review. The bibliometric and altmetric outreach of the included studies were also investigated. Results: A total of 10 studies were included in the review, with 8 studies having applied Nintendo"s Wii platform. Most of the studies recruited healthy older adults from local communities or senior activity centers. Three groups of social-related outcomes Prime Archives in Medicine 3 www.videleaf.com have been identified, including emotion-related, behaviorrelated, and attitude-related outcomes. A metric analysis has shown that the emotion-related and behavior-related outcomes received high attention from both the academic community and social media platforms. Conclusions: Overall, the majority of exergame studies demonstrated promising results for enhanced social well-being, such as reduction of loneliness, increased social connection and positive attitudes towards others. The paper also provided implications for healthcare researchers and exergame designers.

This chapter provides an overview of current research on digital health games and health benefits derived from game play in the home setting by an older adult population. Initially, this chapter presents the current problems of an aging population and a series of gaming trends, game genres, and technology use by older adults are described. This chapter further ascertains previous works, primarily reviews (narrative and systematic), to establish the current stance of utilizing digital games for health among older adults and assesses quality of life benefits. Aggregated recommendations across all the reviewed studies are listed and a comprehensive standard digital health game classification system is proposed. A games for health taxonomy and respective technologies are described, in particular the nature of engagement by users. Finally, recommendations for future research on games for health in the home are provided.