Developing a ludic framework for counteracting interventions for dementia: A narrative and analytic review

Abstract

As the field of medicine tries to tap into various facets of gamification, the potential of video games and gaming-based interventions has become a hotbed of interesting activity in the Dementia circles of medical research. This paper, exploratory in nature is a bid to find common grounds for the fields of neurosciences, psychology, and psychiatry with the sub-field of ludology in a hope to find unique insights from the benefits of interdisciplinary research and extrapolating findings from gaming addiction.From the perspective of game studies, the paper will draw from elements of concepts like flow, immersion and engagement in a bid to understand the various tools that can be of use if people ailing from neurocognitive disorders were to engage in gaming activity. This paper will lay the framework that will enable the beginning of a matching gaming exercises based on cognitive deficits and psychological profiling of clients diagnosed with neurocognitive disorders and advance the fields of neurosciences and psychology.By combining the findings from existing studies and original work this paper will propose both a means to study the possible effects of gaming-based interventions and suggest ways to streamline and optimize the use of gamification in patient care.