Video/Online Games for Health: 12 Research Teams From Across U.S. To Receive Major Grants
Posted on May 27, 2008
Filed Under Gaming
PRINCETON, N.J., May 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — More than $2 million
in grants will be awarded to 12 research teams to help strengthen the
evidence base that supports the development and use of digital interactive
games to improve players’ health behaviors and outcomes. The grantees will
be announced during a live, phone-based news event (with full Q&A) at 1:30
p.m. EDT/10:30 a.m. PDT Thursday (May 29, 2008).
This is the first round of grants to be awarded from the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation through its Health Games Research national program,
based at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). Funded studies
explore topics ranging from how motion-based games may help stroke patients
progress faster in physical therapy to how people in substance abuse
treatment can practice skills and behaviors in the virtual world to prevent
real-world relapses.
News event speakers will be:
— Debra Lieberman, Ph.D., communication researcher, Institute for
Social, Behavioral, and Economic Research, University of California at
Santa Barbara; and
— Chinwe Onyekere, program officer, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s
Pioneer Portfolio.
TO PARTICIPATE: Join this live, phone-based news conference (with full,
two-way Q&A) at 1:30 p.m. EDT/10:30 a.m. PDT on May 29, 2008 by dialing 1
(800) 860-2442. Ask for the “health games grants” news event.
CAN’T PARTICIPATE?: A streaming audio replay of this news event will be
available as of 6 p.m. EDT on May 29, 2008 at
http://healthgamesresearch.org/ .
CONTACT: Ailis Aaron Wolf, (703) 276-3265, or aawolf@hastingsgroup.com;
and Elly Spinweber, (703) 741-7513, or espinweber@golinharris.com
About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and
health care issues facing our country. As the nation’s largest philanthropy
devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all
Americans, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and
individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and
timely change. The Foundation’s Pioneer Portfolio supports innovative ideas
and projects that may trigger important breakthroughs in health and health
care. Projects in the Pioneer Portfolio are future-oriented and look beyond
conventional thinking to explore solutions at the cutting edge of health
and health care. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives
and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in
your lifetime. For more information, visit http://www.rwjf.org/pioneer .
About the University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) is one of 10
universities in the University of California system, and is one of only 62
research-intensive institutions elected to membership in the prestigious
Association of American Universities. The distinguished 980-member faculty
includes five Nobel Prize winners and scores of elected members or fellows
of elite national academies and associations. The campus is also home to 12
national centers and institutes, eight of them sponsored by the National
Science Foundation. U.S. News and World Report’s guide, “America’s Best
Colleges,” ranks UCSB number 13 among all public universities in the
nation. For more information, visit http://www.ucsb.edu .
UCSB’s Institute for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Research (ISBER)
brings together researchers from many academic disciplines in order to
foster collaboration and span the boundaries between the social and
behavioral sciences, the humanities, and the physical and biological
sciences. For more information, visit http://www.isber.ucsb.edu .
The Health Games Research national program office at UCSB conducts and
supports research to enhance the quality and impact of interactive games
used to improve health. For more information, visit
http://www.healthgamesresearch.org or contact the program at
healthgamesresearch@isber.ucsb.edu.
SOURCE Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; WDC; Health Games
Research;
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