Abstract
People with schizophrenia and other related disorders experience great difficulties in getting the appropriate treatment regarding not only the type of interventions available but also the conditions that required for a proper treatment, mainly cost, locale, and frequency. The use of gamified mHealth applications for this population is a proven way to provide a set of tools that may help patients to manage their condition using applications on mobile devices, like smartphones, that implement game-like strategies and elements that transform unpleasant tasks into virtual challenges. This chapter addresses the impact and implications that the use of gamified mHealth applications have for people with schizophrenia, a comprehensive guide of recommendations and standards used by the industry on the development of gamified applications and provides a literature review on the subject.
TopBackground
Mental health problems have a great impact on affected individuals and society, being one of the main causes of disability. According to the Global Burden of Disease study (2018), 792 million people lived in 2017 with a mental health problem, a prevalence rate of 10.7%, however the access to rehabilitation programs and psychological intervention is still scarce, which has a negative impact on the functionality, quality of life and social inclusion of these people.
Mental health problems are thus a growing global concern and recent evidence supports the need for additional treatments and the implementation of practices that favour the patient's self-management of the disease (Buchanan et al., 2009), concomitantly with taking medication prescribed (Mueser, Deavers, Penn, & Cassisi, 2013).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Illness Self-Management: Decisions and behaviours that people with chronic illness engage in that can affect their health – hopefully in a positive note.
Gamification: Use of game-design elements and principles in non-game contexts such as healthcare, education, and so on.
EHealth: Use of digital technologies to facilitate health improvement and health care services.
User-Centered Design: Iterative design process in which developers and researchers focus on the users and their needs in each phase of the process.
MHealth: General term for the use of mobile phones and other wireless devices for healthcare purposes.
Recovery: Not focus on symptom reduction but on a personal process of rediscovering a new feeling of identity, self-determination, and personal empowerment to live, participate, and contribute to the community.