This resource page will:
- Explore your knowledge of gaming
- Explain the main concepts of gamification and using games to support peoples’ mental health in short lectures
- Demonstrate how gamification and games can support mental health care
- Show through STRENCO intensive week participants experiences how to use games within mental health field and the idea of learning by doing
Prepare
Ready, steady… GO! As an introduction to the topic, we would like you to take a quiz and find out what kind of “Master of gaming statistics” you are:
How did you score? Were there any suprises or new information?
Study
This section comprises three presentations on the use of gaming in to support mental health, the first gives an overview of the concept, the second explores what we know about using games to support mental health and the third explores the way games can support collaborative relationships in mental health.
Main concepts of gamification (introduction )
Gamification? Serious games? Health games? There are many concepts related to game-based elements and gamified activities. – Click on the presentation below to learn more about ‘Main concepts of gamification’.
What do we already know about games and gamification in mental health field?
Digital games meet the three basic human psychological needs: communality (need to belong to a group), free of choice (= may decide about one´s own doing) and experiences of cabability (= feelings of success). – Click on the presentation below to learn more about ‘What do we already know about games and gamification in mental health field’.
Gamification and collaboration within mental health field
Many games offer communality in different forms (e.g. Massively Multiplayer Online Games) and ways (e.g. online or face-to-face). There are also possibilities to use gamification and game based elements to support collaboration by adding new ways to work together. – Click on the presentation below to learn more about ‘Gamification and collaboration within mental health field’.
Apply
During the STRENCO intensive programss, we were interested to find out how games and elements of ‘gamification’ can be used to support learning by doing. In addition, we wanted to test how to use games and gamification to increase engagement and collaboration, and create new ways to work within mental health field. Gamified STRENCO activities included example:
- Starting the days with icebreakers (we started all the intensive program days with gamified activities, e.g. Marshmallow challenge)
- Participating to minigames (we used e.g interactive quizzes, voting, competitions)
- Testing and evaluating games (we tested e.g. mobile – and paper games, individually and playing together)
- Creating games (participants planned and made games by using Legos, Playdoh and other supplements)
To expand your learning, you can explore some of the games our intensive week participants tested:
Reflect
It is worthwhile thinking how you might use games within mental health field. The poster below, is a link to how STRENCO participants thought games and gamification could be used to support mental health care (click to expand).
STRENCO participants got innovative ideas on how games can be used to support positive mental health. Click on the video below to learn more.
If you wish to explore how games can be applied to the area of mental health promotion, click here.