Journal of Virtual Worlds Research releases special issue on ‘3D Virtual Worlds for Health and Healthcare’
August 3rd, 2009 
Business, Health, Research, Second Life, Virtual Worlds 
Paul Fayngersh
Volume 2, Number 2 of the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research came online today. It’s an entire issue dedicated to healthcare innovation within the virtual domain and includes a lot of great resources for healthcare professionals looking to utilize emerging technology to help solve unique health-related problems. Best of all, all the articles are available for free!
Dr. Maged Kamel Boulos, the journal’s Associate Editor and professor at the University of Plymouth, UK, summarizes the issue:
Though Second Life has existed since 2002 and there are even other virtual worlds that predate it, most in the health sector are only recently starting to migrate to such platforms, as the technology is gradually maturating and rapidly becoming more affordable and popular. This special issue of JVWR on the theme of ‘3D Virtual Worlds for Health and Healthcare’ provides a good sampler of how healthcare organizations, groups and individuals are currently using virtual worlds…for a range of clinical and health-related purposes. Topics covered in this issue include: the use of virtual worlds in healthcare higher education, including in ‘virtual patients’ game-based learning simulations, with examples from both the UK and the US; the growth and direction of healthcare support groups in virtual worlds; the development of a virtual worlds’ coping skills game to prevent post-hospitalization smoking relapse in tobacco dependent cancer patients; and an examination of how the attitude and appearance of an individual’s avatar might result in positive changes in her/his real life in relation to obesity, which is one of the most serious public health problems of the 21st century.
Though I’m delighted to see so much work being done within academia, I am most excited to see the transition from research to real life application in a field that will surely witness exponential growth in the next several years. It cannot be long until we hear an announcement of a well-funded professional venture that tackles one or more specific healthcare issues using virtual world and other emerging technologies. At a time when our nation is facing a healthcare problem of gargantuan proportions, we need to turn to innovative technologies that can streamline medical care and shed billions of dollars in costs. However, beyond electronic medical records, there hasn’t been much discussion in the mainstream media about emerging healthcare technologies nor any serious and dedicated provisions in Obama’s proposal. The challenge of bridging the gap between cutting-edge academic findings and real-life social policies is one that spans every field, yet if we don’t figure out innovative and cost-effective solutions soon, healthcare costs will become the straw that finally breaks America’s back.
Readers interested in this topic who might have missed it previously, check out Popcha! principal and TurtleThink founder Mark Kizelshteyn’s award-winning research regarding therapeutic uses of virtual worlds for elderly, disabled, and convalescent people [link]. Needless to say we are all very excited for advancements in this field!
[JVWR Vol 2, No 2: 3D Virtual Worlds for Health and Healthcare]
image courtesy of TaranRampersad
Tags: Business, Health, Health2.0, Journal of Virtual Worlds Research, Maged Kamel Boulos, Research, Virtual Worlds
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