ORAHS2024
Abstract Submission

271. The importance of Play in medicine

Invited abstract in session ME-3: Pharmaceuticals Public Policy and Regulation: Exploring pathways to improving access, affordability and availability of medicines, stream Regular talks.

Monday, 15:30-16:40
Room: Room S2

Authors (first author is the speaker)

1. Jurriaan van Rijswijk
Games for Health

Abstract

In traditional medicine access to (pharmaceutical) therapy very much depends on the interpersonal relation between pharmacist, physician, and the patient. In times of digitalization the interaction between the three seems easier and more frequent. Nothing could be further from the truth. Personal contacts got lost. Moreover, with the ageing population resulting in a growth of consultations in combination with the increasing shortage of healthcare providers contributes to lesser access and lower effective treatment rates. It all depends to the behavior of the three.
A dramatic change in behavior is highly required to return to levels of the traditional medicine, where mutual trust was based on personal interaction. And without compromising further digitalization of the healthcare journey, including artificial intelligence.
It is proven that play stimulates the interaction between humans and builds trust and engagement. Play stimulates behavioral change and adaptation to new behavior. In a recent study among elderly rheumatic arthritis patients, it was shown that playful digital eHealth solution increased retention rates of over 5 years with 32 contact moments per month and 9 hours per month. Play can become a therapy, as was proven by EndeavorRx, a FDA approved video game for the treatment of ADHD.
Integration of play in the ongoing digitalization of healthcare journey supports and increases therefore access to healthcare proven and demonstrated in several researched case

Keywords

Status: accepted

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