Name of the game
The search for a way to tackle cancer has led scientists down many roads and round many corners, but never before has it led to the solution that HopeLab is now proffering.
The search for a way to tackle cancer has led scientists down many roads and round many corners, but never before has it led to the solution that HopeLab is now proffering.
A non-profit organisation founded in 2001, HopeLab - based in California, US - is focused on developing innovative ways of improving the health and quality of life of young people living with chronic illness, and it may well have done just that with Re-Mission, "the first video game scientifically shown to improve health-related outcomes for young people with cancer".
Available free of charge (in English, French and Spanish) to young people with cancer, Re-Mission was collaboratively developed by young people with cancer, researchers, medical experts and game developers. Across 20 levels its main character, Roxxi - "a Nanobot who seeks out and destroys cancer cells" - helps to convey biologically accurate information alongside an honest depiction of the challenges faced by young cancer patients.
The Re-Mission Outcomes Study - a randomised, controlled trial designed to test the effect of Re-Mission on treatment adherence, cancer-related knowledge, self-efficacy, and quality of life among teenagers and young adults with cancer - showed the game to cause "statistically significant improvements in cancer-related self-efficacy, social quality of life, and cancer-specific knowledge embedded within the game". Players who were prescribed oral chemotherapy or antibiotics were also shown to maintain "high levels of adherence to their prescribed medication regimens" and "higher levels of chemotherapy in their blood". HopeLab is looking to hear from anyone interested in helping to distribute the game for free to young patients.