How much do people with MS enjoy playing computer games to improve their cognitive health? A lot, according to Paul Bedard, vice president and general manager of neurology at Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals.

And he should know. Bedard is at the forefront of a group effort linking people with MS to assistive technology innovations via an intriguing website.

Visits to www.MyMSMyWAY.com are up 600 percent since the recent launch of MyBrainGames, a suite of three interactive computer games geared specifically to the MS community. The free games, and the site itself, are the result of a unique Collaboration comprised of Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Microsoft Corporation and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS).

Apart from being fun, why play?

“It’s generally considered to be taking care of yourself in a proactive way to try to get a good amount of physical exercise,” Ellen Kampel, public affairs manager of the Accessibility Business Unit at Microsoft, says. “We see MyBrainGames as part of a routine, of getting good cognitive exercise as well. It’s part of the notion of staying in shape, but in this case using an exercise that’s uniquely designed for people with MS.”

Survey Data Support Gaming
The idea for the games was hatched after the Collaborative reviewed results of their groundbreaking 2007 technology survey of almost 2,400 adults with MS (see below).   The survey found that people living with MS are highly reliant on computers and use the Internet at a greater rate than the general population. Individuals with MS also like to game, with 36 percent of respondents saying they participated in online games.

That statistic surprised Dr. Nicholas LaRocca, vice president for health care delivery and policy research at the NMSS and a member of the MS Technology Collaborative team, especially since, he says, the MS population has an average age somewhere between 40 and 60.

MS Population has Diverse Challenges
“The MS population is really unique, really different from other populations,” he notes, “because you have in most instances some physical issues which make the utilization of computers a little more tricky. So you’re dealing not only with cognitive changes and with design of game strategies, but very often with the fact people may have some visual issues, some dexterity challenges.”

That required developing a game that would take into account not only cognition, but also physical challenges. Interfacing with the game itself was kept as simple as possible. It basically involves two keys.

“With a condition like MS, you never know what’s going to happen,” says Kampel, who has lived with the disease for more than 25 years. “At any moment, or a week later, you could be blind or you could have a lot of spasticity and pain in one of your hands.

“I was looking at the game during the course of development from both the perspective of a user, a person with ms who wants to stay in good shape, as well as on the business side: user interface accessibility.”

The toolbar on the games gives options for color inversion, changes in contrast, and bold and enlarged game text.

Improving Cognitive Function
On a cognitive level, the games were designed to address functions that are frequently affected in MS, including speed of information processing, complex attention and working memory. The level of difficulty of each game can be varied, with customized options to suit a player’s individual abilities. And scores can be saved, so a player can view their performance over time.

While there is no research yet on how much the games might improve cognitive function, there’s another reason to play that could prove even more important.

“Using gaming (to improve function), there’s more of a sense of joining with a community, more so than with traditional medical treatment,” clinical psychologist LaRocca says. “So the other benefit may be that it will help people to remain connected, to be connected in ways that they weren’t before. Gaming has a lot of social aspects, especially when you can build in competition and cooperation. We’re not at that point yet with what we’re doing, but I think there’s a lot of potential for that in the future.”

Survey Results: Technology Underutilized
Apart from the implications for online gaming, the 2007 survey revealed other startling results.

Although 33 percent of respondents acknowledged difficulty typing on a standard computer keyboard, a mere five percent had made related adaptations, such as using an alternative keyboard or voice recognition program.  Similarly, 30 percent said they had trouble reading text on a standard screen, while only six percent had made simple adjustments to computer settings such as increasing font size or using screen magnifiers.
This reticence to embrace assistive technology carries over to the workplace. Survey results indicated that a greater use of assistive technology could retain a high number of people living with MS in their jobs.

Although almost 40 percent of employed respondents said technology enables them to keep working with MS, 44 percent of total respondents had changed their employment status, including switching from full-time to part-time or leaving work completely, as a result of their symptoms. Only 12 percent asked their employers for more ergonomic equipment, tools and furniture, and just five percent requested changes to the technology they use.

Website Offers Technology Help
Based on survey results, the MS Collaborative created the MyMSMyWAY site to respond to the need for easy access to technological advances. A wide array of assistive technology is covered, including options for various conditions. Cost isn’t ignored, with alternatives given for lower-priced equipment and financial assistance that is useful to people with a wide spectrum of disabilities.

Disability Games in the Future
“This is a pretty new area, and it seems to be growing rapidly, so I think in the next few years we’re going to learn quite a bit about the usefulness of different types of games for both sensory and cognitive challenges,” LaRocca notes.

And that may extend to the classroom.

“In the last 10 or 15 years, well informed teachers have integrated games into the curriculum, even before they were online,” Kampel adds. “If anything, I would only see an increase of the use of games for all children, including children with disabilities.”

“Staying Connected: An Investigative Survey of How Technology Affects People Living with MS”conducted by StrategyOne on May 8, 2007 to June 6, 2007 involving 2,390 American adults with MS. Margin of error plus or minus 1.98 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.

 

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