Chronic pain is a health crisis impacting 20% of the US and European populations. Video games can help.
This article from Nature magazine does a great job of looking at the potential for digital therapeutics to help impact the massive chronic pain issues 1 out of 5 people deal with everyday.
However, to do so the digital solutions need to look at the whole patient and work towards accessibility of care.
“Chronic pain is complex and often involves several overlapping pain conditions, depression, anxiety, sleep disorders and social factors. That’s why the International Association for the Study of Pain affirms that the gold standard for treating chronic pain is integrative careâ€
Many of the current digital solutions are high cost, require prescriptions, and do not address the mental health concerns that often go hand and hand with chronic pain.
This is where game-based solutions shine, with a high accessibility and low cost of entry that can address both the emotional and physical needs of the patient.
The social aspects of video games are also especially important for the treatment of chronic conditions. Loneliness and isolation can very quickly escalate the duration and severity of a condition, eroding a patient’s ability to cope.
Any steps toward addressing chronic pain are steps toward strengthening society as a whole and ending the opioid crisis. I can’t think of a more suitable use case for an immersive medicine-based approach.
