Hanneke and Nastasia traveled to Ghent in Belgium for a day to collect data from kids visiting the PRESS Play theatre show—a fantastical interactive experience for kids set up by our partners at Kopergietery exploring agency in the virtual world.
On Jan 27th we hosted a new GEMH Session with special guest Matthew Kreutter. Together we discussed the potential of using digital play-based spaces (like Minecraft) to support grieving youth.
On Nov 23rd 2022, Dr. Joanneke Weerdmeester participated in a Radboud Reflects session together with Dr. Eelke Spaak focused on the effects of gaming. Dr. Spaak's talk focused on cognition and perception, whereas Joanneke focused on mental and emotional health. The talks were followed by an in-depth discussion. Talks and discussion are in Dutch.
Treating Youth Anxiety Through Gaming with Dr. Isabela Granic, Dr. Hanneke Scholten, and Ken Koontz
Last Monday, September 12th 2022, I had the massive privilege of defending my PhD dissertation at the Radboud University, featuring 4 years worth of work on young people's wellbeing and their relationship with social media.
This summer the GEMH lab is organizing a games festival! With this event we want to enable anyone and everyone to experience some highlights of the current games-for-wellbeing landscape. In the run-up to the event we will provide updates about the specific date, location, and program.
We had a blast during our 4th GEMH session where we talked with Dr. Rachel Kowert about escaping the ivory tower and sharing scientific knowledge about games with a broader audience. You can watch the recording now on Youtube.
Dr. Joanneke Weerdmeester and game designer Niki Smit were interviewed by national Dutch newspaper NRC to talk about the development and research behind DEEP; a VR biofeedback game designed to help alleviate anxiety. The interview was featured in 2-page spread in the physical newspaper as well as in an online article.
In this series we want to highlight some of the games that we are playing within the GEMH Lab or that we find interesting from a mental health perspective. These games will be compiled in a masterlist that will be linked back to in each upcoming blog.
The Radboud University featured a short video where Dr. Joanneke Weerdmeester talks about her doctoral research around biofeedback games and anxiety regulation.