Professor Jonathan Grigg's 'School-based Asthma Project' team at Queen Mary University of London have, today, launched a new mobile game to help understand asthma.
Asthma Dodge – a new mobile game to help the understanding of asthma.
Run! as fast as you can. Dodge the asthma triggers in your way, they will slow you down.
A new game app has been released by the School-based Asthma Project at Queen Mary University of London: ASTHMA DODGE. The game aims to raise awareness and increase understanding about asthma in young people. The game prompts you to take the role of a young person with asthma. You will need to avoid asthma triggers in order to run faster and take asthma medication where necessary.
Asthma Dodge has been developed by the School-based Asthma Project (SAP) at the Blizard Institute in collaboration with Centre of the Cell, a science centre uniquely placed above the Blizard Building science labs. The SAP aims to improve life for young people with asthma. Previous research showed that many young people with asthma did not feel understood by their peers, and some felt bullied.
The computer game was developed to increase knowledge about asthma in a fun way to young people. Among others, the game introduces concepts of what asthma does in your airways, how different medication acts, and what types of triggers for asthma symptoms there are. In addition, people with asthma are often shown as physically weak, or geeky in the media. Asthma Dodge wants to portray a different image. Taking the role of someone with asthma should make you feel positive about the character and increase your empathy for the character’s challenges.
The game has been played as a table top version for a few months within the Centre of the Cell with great enthusiasm.
Asthma Dodge can be downloaded from the following places: