As you may already know, gamification is one of the most in-demand marketing strategies for companies, and in the health sector it has become a trend.
Its main objective within the health sector is to care for patients and improve their results. Thanks to gamification, different game dynamics are incorporated in order to achieve these objectives.
Hospitals and primary care centers are trying to prevent diseases and improve the condition of patients through the implementation of game strategies.
After several studies, it has been shown that gamification is a strategy that creates great motivation, and that it is much more efficient than the learning methods that were used before.
After the health crisis in which we were immersed caused by COVID-19, we were able to see all the shortcomings that the health sector had. In addition, many patients with chronic or mental illnesses could not be treated normally due to the pandemic, as hospitals were overcrowded. In this case, gamification was able to help and provide solutions to this type of problem, which ended up transforming the health system.
Here we leave you a series of examples where gamification can help in the health field:
PHARMACEUTICAL DISTRIBUTION TEAM TRAINING
Healthcare is constantly evolving, so all professionals working in it must stay up-to-date, as is the case with pharmacy teams . New products with different characteristics are continually coming onto the market, and professionals need to be familiar with them. Gamification is a great tool for learning about all these new products.
Gamification applications are increasingly being chosen within this sector, to help professionals offer the best service to customers.
PATIENT CARE
Today, providing quality services and meeting all the needs of patients within the healthcare system is a significant challenge. This is especially true after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gamification has become a necessary tool for healthcare professionals to practice different patient care techniques that can help them perform their work in a more appropriate and efficient way.
Game dynamics are a great help for professionals in the health field to integrate knowledge that is not so closely related to medical knowledge that they can learn during their university studies. Such as, for example, the management of emotions, how to deal with patients virtually, or even bureaucratic processes.
Furthermore, all the data obtained through game dynamics can help to better monitor patients and therefore improve decision-making by professionals.
PRIMARY CARE
As we've discussed in previous sections, gamification is a powerful tool in the healthcare sector. Within primary care, gamification strategies are used to educate the public about diseases and promote prevention. A prime example is the wide range of apps designed to provide information and support for healthy lifestyles.
In addition, patients who suffer from or may develop an illness, such as diabetes or lactose intolerance, will be able to learn about these conditions and their treatment. They will also learn how to manage their care and treatment, thus helping to alleviate pressure on primary care.
Mango Health is an application that helps remind patients when to take their medication, through reminders and points and reward systems.
TRAINING FOR HEALTH CARE
The different trainings in the health sector stopped being face-to-face due to the lack of time and the little flexibility of the health professionals. For this reason, today such training can be virtual, remote or online.
Thanks to gamification , healthcare professionals can stay up-to-date and become proficient in processes that are not usually very frequent.
For example, there is an application called Night Shift that simulates an emergency room where health workers learn to reduce diagnostic errors as much as possible.
Thanks to different studies and articles such as those published by BMJ ( British Medical Journal), physicians who played Night Shift achieved better ratings for patients with trauma needs than those who did not. In this way, it can be proven that this type of gamification can promote great benefits within work environments as specialized as medicine.
THERAPIES
One of the most used game dynamics in the field of health are games that are designed with the aim of helping patients in their therapies. They are created by health professionals, and are used to help, improve and accompany the patient in their treatment. By setting goals and increasing motivation.
Normally these types of games are used more within mental health, due to all the studies and applications that exist and that have given very good results within psychotherapy. But they are also widely used for diseases such as diabetes, obesity, vision problems, allergies, cancer, etc.
Autcraft is a Minecraft server dedicated to being a safe haven for children with neurodiversities or a diagnosis of autism. It helps them develop social skills.
Gamification is of great help so that patients have greater motivation and can improve their lifestyle.
En GumsUp, we are specialists in in loyalty platforms and motivation systems. Thanks to gamification strategies in the field of health, you will be able to get users to play an active role, which will increase their commitment, and in the case of patients, you will reinforce and enhance self-care. In addition, being an attractive and fun content, you will promote learning and health education.
