When it comes to the 25.8 million people with Type 2 diabetes, nonadherence can get expensive. Complications that can be caused by not taking medication properly can produce serious consequences from blindness to amputation. Suffice to say the pressure is on companies to pursue a variety of solutions. Merck (NYSE: MRK) is turning to gamification in a collaboration with Canadian gaming developer Ayogo in a bid to support adherence
It was one of a group of companies demonstrating their games in the Games for Health Pavillion at the mHealth Summit this week near Washington, D.C.
The Type 2 Travelers Project sets users on a journey around the world. Users can pick an avatar and get little games to complete to win gold coins that they use to help move them from place to place around the world. Interaction with an online community of diabetics is a critical component and becomes a driving motivation for people returning to the game. Users are asked why they want to control their diabetes and can post that reason to the community wall and draw inspiration from others.
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The community component is also important because diabetes is frequently accompanied by depression, which can undermine people’s desire to manage their condition.
“Our goal is to help diabetics get their condition under control.” Ayogo CEO Michael Fergusson said. “Users feel like they are getting gold for having fund but really they get it for engagement.”
Fergusson has collaborated with other pharmaceutical companies, such as Sanofi-Aventis.
The game has been the subject of two pilots with academic partners with a third underway.
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Ayogo is also working on a game to help adolescents battle obesity called Monster Manor. It uses accelerometers and encourages users to exercise to meet each goal. The goals are customizable for each user. Meeting goals produces points that are used to power the game to build monsters and to furnish their monster manor.
Games have been a growing trend in healthcare. Ayogo is just one of several companies in the Games for Health section of the Mobile Health Summit this week.
The downside of games is that for some they can feel like a patronizing way to manage a serious illness. Still, gaming is no longer the stuff of children. I frequently see people whose teens are a distant memory playing Candy Crush Saga and World of Warcraft. It will be interesting to see if combining escapism with community support offers an effective path to adherence.
