An Overview of Using Electronic Games for Health Purposes

This chapter aims to provide an overall picture of the applications of electronic games for various health-related purposes, particularly for health education, health risk prevention, behavioral intervention, and disease self-management. We first summarize the electronic games for health that have been empirically tested by researchers in the past 20 years. Games that have not yet been evaluated but are promising and noteworthy are also included. These games are categorized based on their specific health-related functions (i.e., prevention, self-management, medical training, etc). Second, we synthesize the key features of electronic games that make them promising to be used for health-related purposes. Finally, implications of using electronic games for health-related purposes and future direction for research in this area are discussed. Game researchers, health providers, game designers, and potential game consumers will all find informative content in this chapter.