Sophie sent me a link a couple of weeks ago about this and it sounds great! Basically, Bayer have got together with Nintendo to create a video game just for kids with type 1.
As you can see from the image in this post, the name of the game is “Knock ‘em Dead”. As far as I can tell, the game itself isn’t based on a diabetes narrative (I think this is a good thing), but kids get extra points to play the game via doing blood tests.
Essentially, the Didget meter (shown in the image, plugged into the Nintendo console) is based on the regular BG tester from Bayer called a CONTOUR. It takes the same test strips and operates in the same way, etc. But the Didget is designed to plug straight into a Nintendo DS or a DS Lite. Kids get points for doing consistent glucose tests regularly which they can then use in-game as currency to buy cool things like characters. The kids can also access a website where they can share game tips and top scores with others, so in a way this is a gentle push to get them to join a diabetes community. A really nice concept.
The only thing I wasn’t too keen on was the rewards for getting a BG inside a certain range (the demo showed a 5.1). I suppose it’s important to try to teach kids to control their BG but we all know how hard that can be, and especially as a kid.
The other thing I guess is that as a child with T1 you’d be wanting to get them to get a certain amount of exercise, so getting them hooked on video games could be counter-productive! I think the overall insight is a good one though, and a good way to try to encourage T1 kids to learn about, and manage their diabetes.
Also – unfortunately the strips for these meters are not subsidised in New Zealand.
Parents – what do you think of this concept?
More info here:
Posted in Community, Kids & Teens, Monitoring, Technology & Equipment
Tagged as Bayer, Bayer Didget, motivation
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2 comments have been made on this post
chris wrote
I showed this to my 14 yr old ( without diabetes)and his mates a while back – he is quite the gaming fanatic and has to ‘ earn’ his time on games by heading out for a bike ride or doing a dishwasher or other chores that I hate doing
He is quite competitive and occasionally gets game bans due to this behaviour. These boys search the internet for ‘ cheats’ to try and get the better of games. His theory with this was that it would be easy for someone with diabetes to test their mates and get numbers inside the range thus getting to the next level quicker.
Kelly would be more interested in a CGMS that feeds results directly to an iphone.
I know kids who would certainly be interested in this in the short term – until the next game hit town. But if it helped with increasing diabetes knowledge and management ( and made it fun not a chore) then its probably worth it.
Ali wrote
Doesn’t sound perfect but I love the fact that there are people out there giving serious thought to how to support and encourage youngsters to get involved in their diabetes management – sure beats the l”ook down the nose and stern talking to” approach my doctors used to jse (or still do at times!)