HopeLab's Approach to Re-Mission

HopeLab’s overarching institutional objective is to enhance the physical health and psychological well-being of young people with chronic diseases. Re-Mission (www.re-mission.net), a video game for young people with cancer, was created with that outcome in mind. In the game, players pilot Roxxi the nanobot through the bodies of teenaged cancer patients to investigate symptoms, destroy cancer cells, eradicate bacteria, stop metastases, and manage treatment side effects. The design of Re-Mission, and the evaluation of its effects, offers a model for those working in the games and health arena. In the following missive, we summarize results from a randomized controlled trial measuring Re-Mission’s impact on patient behavior and provide a short overview of the development process used to create the game.

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