Pokemon Go, COVID and mental health
Gaming as a force for good
As seen in The Age, Sydney Morning Herald and syndicated publications.
A recent worldwide survey shows three quarters of participants (77.2%) reported that playing augmented reality games has been beneficial to their mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The outdoor game Pokémon Go showed a positive impact on gamers’ wellbeing during the pandemic.
Augmented reality (AR) games can improve physical and mental health by providing virtual socialization, sustained exercise, temporal routine and mental structure, said lead researchers Dr Kathleen Yin and Dr Louise Ellis from the Australian Institute of Health Innovation.
People in the recent study reported video games helped them “cope”, “relieve stress” and “relax” during the pandemic. One said that video games were “possibly the only thing keeping me sane right now”.
The research showed a significant positive relationship between total hours participation in AR gaming and total hours of exercise per week.
AR games have the potential to promote physical and mental-health during the pandemic, state the authors.
About the Authors:
Dr Louise Ellis (pictured left) is a mental health specialist with 15 years clinical and research experience, and has led numerous innovative mental health projects on the use of cutting-edge technology to improve mental health and wellbeing.
Dr Kathleen Yin (pictured right) is a board member of Games for Change Asia-Pacific, and a Steering Committee member of the Serious Games Special Interest Group in the International Game Developers’ Association.
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Read the journal article here:
Ellis L, Lee M, Ijaz K, Smith J, Braithwaite J, Yin K. COVID-19 as 'game changer' for the physical activity and mental well-being of augmented reality game players during the pandemic: mixed methods survey study. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 2020 Dec 22;22(12):1-12. e25117. https://doi.org/10.2196/25117
Related research:
Smith, J, Lee, MD, Ellis, LA, Ijaz, K, & Yin, K. Developing a novel psychographic-behavioral qualitative mapping method for exergames. International Journal of Serious Games 2021 8(2), 87 - 107. https://doi.org/10.17083/ijsg.v8i2.422
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