Games! What are they good for? The Struggle of Serious Game Adoption for Rehabilitation

2025-01-12

AI Summary

Serious games for rehabilitation face three critical bottlenecks: low therapist adoption, declining patient engagement, and weak evidence bases. To address these, this study employed qualitative research, in-depth cross-stakeholder interviews (therapists, researchers, patients), and systematic literature analysis, integrating human factors engineering and rehabilitation medicine principles. Key barriers identified include poor technological adaptability to clinical workflows, difficulties in embedding games into routine care, and misalignment between game mechanics and therapeutic goals. The study introduces an innovative “therapist–researcher–patient” co-creation paradigm to shift from passive intervention to active, game-based participation. It further proposes an evidence-informed design framework centered on clinical credibility, patient-centeredness, and high adherence. The resulting actionable practice guidelines provide both theoretical foundations and implementation pathways for the rigorous development and scalable deployment of rehabilitation-focused serious games.

Technology Category

• Game Theory and Economic Paradigms: Behavioral Game Theory
• Humans and AI: Game Design — Virtual Humans, NPCs and Autonomous Characters
• Knowledge Representation and Reasoning: Argumentation

Application Category

• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Psychology-informed user models and recommender systems
• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Web evaluation methodologies and metrics

Abstract

The field of serious games for health has grown significantly, demonstrating effectiveness in various clinical contexts such as stroke, spinal cord injury, and degenerative neurological diseases. Despite their potential benefits, therapists face barriers to adopting serious games in rehabilitation, including limited training and game literacy, concerns about cost and equipment availability, and a lack of evidence-based research on game effectiveness. Serious games for rehabilitation often involve repetitive exercises, which can be tedious and reduce motivation for continued rehabilitation, treating clients as passive recipients of clinical outcomes rather than players. This study identifies gaps and provides essential insights for advancing serious games in rehabilitation, aiming to enhance their engagement for clients and effectiveness as a therapeutic tool. Addressing these challenges requires a paradigm shift towards developing and co-creating serious games for rehabilitation with therapists, researchers, and stakeholders. Furthermore, future research is crucial to advance the development of serious games, ensuring they adhere to evidence-based principles and engage both clients and therapists. This endeavor will identify gaps in the field, inspire new directions, and support the creation of practical guidelines for serious games research.

Problem

• Rehabilitation
• Serious Games
• Therapeutic Efficacy

Innovation

• Serious Games
• Rehabilitation Therapy
• Engagement Strategies