Healthcare communications and marketing news and information

As virtual worlds grow in number and controversy, a tried and true technology, video games, is also increasing in prominence. Today, the New York Times reported on an interesting use of a virtual simulator to help Iraq war veterans heal.  According to the Times:

"Virtual Iraq [is] a simulation created to treat Iraq war veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. . . . The simulation is available to a small number of patients at sites including the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Manhattan, the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta and Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. So-called exposure therapy, in which patients are asked to confront memories of a trauma by imagining and recounting it in painstaking detail, has long been a first-line psychological treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.”

Iraq war veterans are not the only people benefiting from the use of games in health.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is educating Second Life's citizens about HIV prevention and holding disaster preparedness drills in the virtual world.  

Changemakers, which is partnering with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is currently holding an idea competition designed to highlight “creative solutions that merge computer and video games with health and health care.”  Currently the organizers of the event have received 14 entries from four countries.  More than 126 comments have been received about the submissions.  The competition ends on September 26.

As Generations X and Y age, look for more innovative healthcare communications and training solutions using video games to appear.