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Gamified health environment

Boosting patient empowerment and motivational pull

Behavioral change is tricky. Every year, thousands of people fail to keep their New Year’s resolutions past January. More detrimentally, people struggle to maintain healthy exercise and diet regimens, to save for retirement, or to use their free time productively. As behavioral psychology has evolved, new approaches have been suggested. Gamifica¬tion, the use of game mechanics and experience design to digitally engage and motivate people to achieve their goals, has emerged in recent years as one of the more popular cross-industry solutions.

Companies have used game-like elements to achieve their business goals for decades. However, digital transformation in the last decade has created new opportunities for transferring gamification to industries previously not associated with any kind of game.

Numerous social, technological, and generational trends support the use of gamified products in the health industry. Several studies have shown that gamification can have significant, positive effects on patients’ health by promoting adherence to treatment, fostering resilience, and increasing motivation to fight diseases. In fact, different types of gamification can be applied throughout the whole illness pathway of patients. Success depends, on engaging patients in the long term through fun with friends, and through continuous feedback.

Beyond the patient benefits, healthcare providers can also gain from gamification technology through obtaining insights into patients, drawn from usage data, a better understanding of preventive care needs, improved adherence, and an enhanced reputation as a technology leader.

Across the globe, numerous providers have already discovered the power of gamification. It is only a matter of time before fierce competition based on this new methodology will improve the patient’s experience, provide new areas of profit, and become standard operating practice.

Future successful providers will draw on partnerships to coordinate gamified solutions – new, existing, and cross-industry – across the entire continuum of care.

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