[games_access] Research questions about games helping veterans

[Eelke Folmer]

Related to this I saw this on joystick this week:

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/11/10/president-bush-plays-video-games-with-injured-soldiers/

I have moral issues with getting military funding; a simple solution
would just be to stop making more people with disabilities.

Aside from my personal opinion. I think this SIG should focus on
making games accessible. Researching how games can help deal with
trauma is a different research question which -at least for me- lies
outside of my field of expertise. If veterans have to play games they
should play katamari rather than violent FPS's in my opinion. Do you
help a rape victim deal with trauma by showing her a rape scene from a
violent movie? I'm very sceptic about this approach.

Cheers Eelke



On Nov 17, 2007 12:58 PM, Reid Kimball <reid at rbkdesign.com> wrote:
> Michelle's recent post about veterans seeking relief through games
> reminded me I saw this the other day. Truly staggering and mind
> boggling the numbers of veterans that aren't getting the help they
> need.
>
> http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/15/cbs-news-investigates-shocking-rate-of-veteran-suicides/
>
> "In 2005 alone, 125 veterans committed suicide each week and of the
> more than 88,000 vets returning from Iraq, more than 28% of them have
> experienced mental health problems."
>
> This is definitely an area we need to research, how much can games
> really help depressed veterans? Will it help them? Will it be abused
> like drugs and alcohol? Is it THE solution or is it best to include
> gaming as part of a larger therapy?
>
> -Reid
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Eelke Folmer                           Assistant Professor
Department of CS&E/171
University of Nevada              Reno, Nevada 89557
Game interaction design        www.helpyouplay.com
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