To reduce the number of patient care incidents, University Medical Center (UMC) Utrecht is working on a “serious game” for young doctors. The principal investigator is American psychologist Pam Kato. Kato has proved that serious gaming works: she developed “Re-Mission,” a game that results in increased treatment adherence among young cancer patients. The study's findings will be published in the August 4 issue of the scientific journal Pediatrics.
A serious game is one that is played primarily to learn something, not just for fun. The intention behind the game being developed by UMC Utrecht is to allow new doctors to practice dealing with incidents that seldom actually occur. “Particularly because these incidents happen infrequently, it’s hard for doctors to gain experience in dealing with them,” Kato says. The aim is to prevent avoidable mistakes. Kato: “Young doctors have a lot of responsibility and often have to take decisions quickly. An experienced doctor supervises them and can be consulted by phone in urgent cases. When do you do this? How do make sure you don’t call too late? And what should you be doing during the time it takes the supervisor to come to the hospital?”
The study into the effect of Re-Mission is the largest-ever controlled, randomized study on the effect of games as interventions. Kato received a grant from the American HopeLab to study this effect in 375 young people in 34 hospitals in the United States, Canada, and Australia. Re-Mission shows that a specially designed video game can promote treatment adherence in young cancer patients. In Re-Mission, a microscopic robot named Roxxi travels through the human body destroying cancer cells and battling the side effects of cancer and cancer treatments. Those who took part in the study had higher levels of chemotherapy drugs in their bodies and took their antibiotics more consistently. Pediatric hematologists at UMC Utrecht are considering using the method with their patients as well.
A prototype of the game being developed for young doctors at UMC Utrecht is expected to be available at the end of 2008. UMC Utrecht is looking for sponsors to further develop the game and study its actual effects to see if the game does indeed result in doctors making fewer mistakes later on.