Design of interactive health drama built on social realism.

There are many psychosocial aspects of chronic diseases, such as diabetes. Educational multimedia can support patients with chronic diseases and their families by communicating narratives based on social realism. The production of such socio-realistic interactive health dramas requires systematic methods, especially for the identification of significant stories. The aim of this study is to explore the use of self-documentary video in the design of an Interactive Health Drama environment to support diabetic adolescents and their families. In particular, the potential of the self-documentary video for story development in combination with qualitative interviews were explored. The proposed approach, when further developed, is intended to enable all types of chronic disease patients to work with their specific psychosocial problems in a supportive and stimulating environment adapted to their personality and preferences.

Towards integration of computer games in interactive health education environments: understanding gameplay challenge, narrative and spectacle.

CONTEXT: There is an alarming progress in the health status of the young in western countries, and new methods and tools for behavioural health interventions are urgently called for. OBJECTIVE: To explore how computer game designs can be integrated in the development of Interactive Health Education Environments. DESIGN: Qualitative analyses of adolescents' experiences of playing an action-adventure computer game, using data from in-depth interviews. RESULTS: A model is presented, where the gameplaying experience is connected to four components of computer games. Playing computer games was found to mainly be motivated by the challenges and competition represented in the gameplay scripts. CONCLUSIONS: Interactive health education environments can be improved by implementing challenging gameplay scripts, spectacular technical features and narratives.