Gaming and digital health: opportunities and challenges of serious gaming

From apps that incentivise physical activity to video games designed to promote healthy behaviours, so-called serious gaming occupies an increasingly significant role in health promotion. Recently, on the RSI programme Prima Ora, Anne-Linda Camerini and Giovanna Pedroni from the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences at USI explored the opportunities, limitations, and future prospects of these digital tools.

According to Anne-Linda Camerini, Lecturer and Researcher at the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, digital technologies offer new possibilities for promoting public health. It is against this backdrop that USI is launching its Master of Science in Health, Major in Digital Public Health this September. The course will examine the role of tools like smartphones, applications, and digital platforms in supporting healthy behaviours.

These tools include serious gaming, which uses game mechanics for purposes beyond mere entertainment. "Gaming can be used to improve knowledge, attitudes, and habits," Camerini explained, stressing, however, the importance of developing these interventions based on scientific evidence and carefully evaluating both their benefits and potential adverse effects.

Part of Giovanna Pedroni's research activity, a PhD assistant at the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, focuses precisely on these aspects. Her project studies the relationship between different forms of play—from outdoor games to video games and board games—and key health indicators such as diet, physical activity, and sleep. The goal is to understand how gaming can contribute to promoting healthy lifestyles and, based on the findings, to develop prevention and health promotion interventions. The research also includes the VIDEOGAME project, carried out in primary schools in Ticino in collaboration with CERDD and two primary school teachers from Claro. Over 700 pupils took part in the programme, which used playful educational activities to help them understand the opportunities and risks of gaming, and how to use video games mindfully. Preliminary results show higher levels of knowledge about risks, benefits, and the dynamics of the gaming world, along with greater perceived self-efficacy for mindful use of video games, among participants in the intervention group compared to those in the control group.

During the broadcast, the potential side effects of applications and digital games used in the healthcare sector were also addressed. Camerini highlighted how the very mechanisms that make a video game engaging can, if not properly managed, encourage excessive or compulsive behaviours. "It is essential to maintain a critical perspective and carefully evaluate the efficacy and safety of these tools," she observed. Pedroni further emphasised the need to monitor long-term effects. While game-based strategies can encourage the adoption of positive behaviours, it is important to understand how durable these changes are and to what extent they can be maintained over time.

Finally, the two researchers, affiliated with the Institute of Public Health (IPH) at USI, highlighted the importance of using digital technologies mindfully. Rather than making a rigid distinction between "good" or "bad" tools, they highlighted that the context, manner of use, frequency, and duration of the gaming experience are the deciding factors. Promoting knowledge and awareness, particularly among young people, is therefore essential to unlocking gaming's potential to benefit health and well-being.