New Apps, Video and Social Network Games Encourage Healthy Habits
It's smart to be on the lookout for ways to help your employees stay fit and healthy. But it's not easy to get people who are busy with their jobs and families to drop bad habits and pick up healthy ones. Research is showing that video games and phone apps may soon become very useful tools, offering fun ways to get people to do things like exercise more, stop smoking and eat a healthier diet.
You've probably seen how video games such as Nintendo's Wii Fit get players to be more active. In her paper, "Video Games in Health Care: Closing the Gap," Pamela M. Kato Ed.M., Ph.D., says findings suggest that play can provide a strong basis for helping people improve their health. Games can make patients want to do health-related tasks and can inform and encourage them to stick to treatments.
An article on Forbes.com says that out of 100,000 apps in the iPhone App Store, nearly 1,800 are about health. And several new games that will focus on health are being studied. They include a video game called "Re-Mission" that will help teenagers and young adults with cancer understand why they need to stick with their medicines. And a game called "Lit," which may help smokers quit the habit, is being tested at Columbia University Teacher's College.
At Humana, we are on the leading edge of these new findings. In fact, the goal of our Humana Games group is to make games and apps that can help people of all ages play their way to better health.
"Humana believes that by creating a fun, rewarding and social online experience, we can help families live healthier lives," said Paul Puopoto, Director of Consumer Innovation at Humana. And with Humana's newest game, FamScape, your valued partner in health is taking support and encouragement to the virtual world.
FamScape - a new online game that helps employees get active - and earn rewards!
FamScape is a new online game from Humana that makes it fun for your employees' families and friends to be more active and work toward goals that pay off in better health and real rewards. Your employees can be among the first to play.
Found online or at select Best Buy stores, FamScape allows players to connect with others in user-created villages, take up challenges, practice music or surfing, and earn points based on performance. Points can be used toward in-game rewards or, for premium users, real life rewards.
Players choose their goals
Players can choose activites that earn rewards and help their families reach their goals. Their goals might include something like riding a bike or even eating more vegetables. From month-to-month, the game lets players track activities and watch their families' progress toward meeting goals. FamScape even works with pedometers, which count steps, and other tools to help players earn points.
Employees can even update friends on their progress through Facebook and Twitter, and encourage them with comments and invitations to join in on the fun. FamScape can also be played through mobile phones.
Give FamScape a try - free!
The game is out now and is free to Humana members for the first 90 days if they use the code HUMFS at checkout when they visit www.myfamscape.com. Without the code, the game sells for $14.99 per family.
To learn more about Humana's Health Games, visit www.HumanaGames.com.
