Motivation
In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in exploring virtual environments and computer aided interactive stories as tools in developing health promotion and disease prevention interventions. Applications have been developed to address a range of health related conditions, including stress [1], risky behaviors [2] and post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD) [3].
Compared to conventional intervention techniques, which usually require face-toface interactions with clinicians, computer aided interactive stories have several advantages. They are less expensive to the user. The user can access the materials at any time and from his/her convenient locations. The privacy provided by computer aided interventions can help engage the user more efficiently. People who are suffering from mental health conditions often do not actively seek treatment because of the perceived stigma. Interacting with a computer program can make them feel less embarrassed and more in control.
Moreover, story itself is a powerful tool to teach and change people’s behaviors. The support of interactivity makes interactive stories even more powerful by allowing the user to experience and learn in context. Further, the story, and intervention messages, can be tailored based on user profiles and the user’s patterns of interaction within the intervention.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Marsella, S.C., Johnson, W.L., Labore, C.: Interactive Pedagogical Drama for Health Interventions. In: AIED, pp. 341–348 (2003)
Miller, L.C., Christensen, J.L., Godoy, C.G., Appleby, P.R., Corsbie-Massay, C., Read, S.J.: Reducing risky sexual decision-making in the virtual and in the real-world: Serious games, intelligent agents, and a SOLVE Approach. In: Ritterfeld, U., Cody, M., Vorderer, P. (eds.) Serious Games: Mechanisms and Effects. Routledge, LEA Press (2009)
Rizzo, A., Newman, B., Parsons, T., Reger, G., Difede, J., Rothbaum, B.O., Mclay, R.N., Holloway, K., Graap, K., Newman, B., Spitalnick, J., Bordnick, P., Johnston, S., Gahm, G.: Development and Clinical Results from the Virtual Iraq Exposure Therapy Application for PTSD. In: IEEE Explore: Virtual Rehabilitation (2009)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Si, M., Marsella, S., Miller, L. (2010). Interactive Stories for Health Interventions. In: Aylett, R., Lim, M.Y., Louchart, S., Petta, P., Riedl, M. (eds) Interactive Storytelling. ICIDS 2010. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 6432. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-16638-9_46
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-16638-9_46
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-16637-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-16638-9
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)