Recommendations for the use of Serious Games in people with Alzheimer's Disease, related disorders and frailty.

Philippe H Robert,Sandrine Andrieu,Alexandra Kã¶Nig,Paul-Ariel Kenigsberg,Julie Piano,Valeria Manera,Bruno Vellas,Bruno Dubois,Jerome Yesavage,Roger Bullock,Serge Gauthier,Franã§Ois Bremond,Jacques Touchon,Michel Benoit,Stã©Phane Nave,Hã©Lene Amieva,Jean M Orgogozo,Mathieu Ceccaldi

doi:10.3389/fnagi.2014.00054

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease and other related disorders (ADRD) represent a major challenge for health care systems within the aging population. It is therefore important to develop better instruments to assess the disease severity and progression, as well as to improve its treatment, stimulation, and rehabilitation. This is the underlying idea for the development of Serious Games (SG). These are digital applications specially adapted for purposes other than entertaining; such as rehabilitation, training and education. Recently, there has been an increase of interest in the use of SG targeting patients with ADRD. However, this field is completely uncharted, and the clinical, ethical, economic and research impact of the employment of SG in these target populations has never been systematically addressed. The aim of this paper is to systematically analyze the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) of employing SG with patients with ADRD in order to provide practical recommendations for the development and use of SG in these populations. These analyses and recommendations were gathered, commented on and validated during a 2-round workshop in the context of the 2013 Clinical Trial of Alzheimer's Disease (CTAD) conference, and endorsed by stakeholders in the field. The results revealed that SG may offer very useful tools for professionals involved in the care of patients suffering from ADRD. However, more interdisciplinary work should be done in order to create SG specifically targeting these populations. Furthermore, in order to acquire more academic and professional credibility and acceptance, it will be necessary to invest more in research targeting efficacy and feasibility. Finally, the emerging ethical challenges should be considered a priority.

Highlights

Due to the increasing average lifespan, the occurrence of neurodegenerative disorders such as dementia has risen by unprecedented levels, engendering high socio-economic costs
The results revealed that Serious Games (SG) may offer very useful tools for professionals involved in the care of patients suffering from ADRD
The reported results include the findings that emerged from the SWOT analysis session of round 1, commented on and integrated by all the participants of the first round during the general discussion, and by the participants of the consensus group during the second round

Summary

Introduction

Due to the increasing average lifespan, the occurrence of neurodegenerative disorders such as dementia has risen by unprecedented levels, engendering high socio-economic costs. Concerning clinical assessment, ICT play an important role allowing the development of new methods to evaluate more objectively behavioral and functional deficits (König et al, 2014). This is important for clinical activity, as well as for research purposes (Robert et al, 2013). Beyond being important for assessment, ICT can play a key role in the patients’ treatment, stimulation, and rehabilitation This is the underlying idea for the development of Serious Games (SG), which are digital applications specialized for purposes other than entertaining, such as training and educating, informing, communicating, marketing, leading societal/ideological impact on specific subjects, or enhancing user’s aptitudes or cognitive/physical functions

Methods

Results

Conclusion