Exploring serious games for stroke rehabilitation: a scoping review

Area of Science:

• Neurorehabilitation
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Game Design

Background:

• Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability, particularly in older adults.
• Rehabilitation requires consistent, often repetitive, physical and cognitive exercises.
• Technological solutions, including motion-based games, offer engaging alternatives for stroke recovery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore studies utilizing games for stroke rehabilitation.
• To understand the design principles and characteristics of effective rehabilitation games.
• To identify key features for serious games in stroke recovery.

Main Methods:

• A scoping review of medical repositories was conducted.
• Studies published between 2008 and 2018 were included.
• 18 studies were analyzed for game design principles.

Main Results:

• Effective game attributes include meaningful play, error handling, challenge emphasis, and feedback.
• Motion-based games increase engagement in repetitive rehabilitation tasks.
• Serious games offer customized and contextualized gameplay experiences.

Conclusions:

• Gaming technologies are effective interactive tools for stroke rehabilitation.
• Future serious game development should incorporate features facilitating challenge and error recovery.
• Design recommendations are provided for developers of stroke rehabilitation games.