As you know, I’ve been trolling through the copious creative designs we received in this year’s DiabetesMine Design Challenge, and today I’d like to take a moment to highlight those focusing on mentoring or community-based games to teach people about improving their diabetes management.
This issue is near and dear to my heart, ’cause that’s what the online community of blogs and social networks provides for me personally — minus the gaming aspect, for the most part.
Mentoring programs:
Care Partner Program
- “family & friends are a huge untapped resource” -
A Little Help from Your Friends
- a (somewhat melancholy) look at how a personal supporter or “cheerleader” can help -
Games:
Sugar Remedi
- a board game for learning and knowledge exchange -
Learn Diabetes
- iPhone-based educational game & management system -
GlyMetrix
- online quiz game that isn’t “in-your-face” about diabetes -
(click on the image below to view the Entry)
… And my personal favorite, not so much a learning program as a “game” to give us patients that extra little kick in the pants to work harder:
Sugar Wager
- a bank-account-based incentive system: work and earn! -
(click on the image below to view the Entry)
This concept seems ideal for teens, no? Although even at my age, I think I’d be pretty excited about earning cold, hard cash for all the little things I do every day to manage my diabetes. What about you?
Does a “buddy system” sound appealing, or more like an intrusion into your personal space? And can games like those proposed make any kind of lasting impact on a PWDs well-being? I wonder…
Interesting concepts. There are so many great minds out there.
I already do the cash system of earning! With real cash. I’m type-1, and I get my A1C checked every 4 months. I get $25 (out of the family budget for me to spend how I want) for each point I am below 7. So since I was a 6.2 this last time, I earned $20! I can earn up to $50 (because going below a 5 isn’t healthy anyway).
I already have a built-in reward system — maintaining an A1c under 6 means I can keep my eyesight, my limbs, and my kidneys, and hopefully I won’t die a premature death. That is the best motivation of all.