The emergence of computer games as treatment appears to be sensible and effective according to experts like Henry W Mahncke, VP of Research & Outcomes at Posit Science.
I was at Starbucks yesterday, and a woman was there with her grade school-age son. In the Long Island way, she was talking with the boy, loud enough for all to hear, about his upcoming use of a computer game as treatment for his ADHD. As a former aficionado of Duke Nuk’em and Doom, I’ll vouch for the need to pay attention if you’re going to play. It caught my interest.
In a recent presentation I received from Open Minds, a consulting group, Dr Mahncke shared the statistical proof that his game-treatment works with schizophrenics. The more they play, the more it pays off.
So since computer game therapy, or rather “applied brain plasticity”, appears to increase in effectiveness with more hours of play, how will that be charged? Should it be charged? We can bet the insurance companies, funding sources like Medicaid, will resist paying for this.
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