Effectiveness of gamification for the rehabilitation of neurodegenerative disorders

Abstract

• Gamified techniques are proven advantageous over the traditional treatments in the rehabilitation of neurodegenerative diseases. • This enhances patient engagement, motivation and adherence to treatment. • Active video games makes patients physically and psychologically active. • Modeling of gamification effectiveness for the rehabilitation of neurodegenerative disorders has been reviwed. The present review aims to analyze distinctive features of gamification in rehabilitation from neurodegenerative disorders. This work is an effort to decipher various gamified elements which are commonly used for the rehabilitation of patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases including the scope of these gamified techniques towards their role with traditional methods for recovery of such disorders. Further, gamified tools and techniques used in the treatment process are studied in depth. Moreover, an overview of the inclusion of gamified techniques used in healthcare for neurodegenerative diseases towards enhancing patient engagement is reviewed and modeling of gamification effectiveness using statistical tools have also been discussed. Subsequently, it is found out that the virtual reality games, active video games and serious games are most commonly used in rehabilitation of neurodegenerative diseases. The most used gamified techniques are found to be virtual reality and mobile video games followed by serious games. Moreover, despite some limitations, it is concluded that the gamified methods prove to be a valuable addition to traditional treatments as they enhance patient engagement, socialization, feedback, adherence to the treatment process and provides better health outcomes. Finally, it adds motivation, literacy and helps in diverting patients from painful treatments with effective therapeutics.