CALL FOR CHAPTER PROPOSALS
Proposal Submission Deadline: May 15th, 2011

Serious Games for Healthcare: Applications and Implications
A book edited by

Dr. Sylvester Arnab and Dr. Ian Dunwell
Serious Games Institute, Coventry University, UK

Dr. Kurt Debattista
International Digital Lab, University of Warwick, UK

To be published by IGI Global:
http://www.igi-global.com/authorseditors/authoreditorresources/callforbookchapters/callforchapterdetails.aspx?callforcontentid=74a4f4cf-ccd0-4bb4-83f4-948fecec03c8



Introduction
With advances in technologies and revolutions in patient, trainee, and public expectations, the global healthcare sector is increasingly turning to serious games to solve problems. Developed using computer game technologies more often associated with entertainment, serious games provide a platform for combining high-fidelity graphics and sound with engaging content, novel interfaces, and serious purpose. Though serious games are employed in a range of diverse areas such as e-Learning, defense, marketing, and training, healthcare is rapidly emerging as a leading area for their use.

Across the healthcare sector, there is growing interest in improving and sustaining interaction and engagement using these technologies. Current trends in serious game research and development for healthcare focus on professional training, improving therapeutic outcomes for patients, and promoting awareness of health-related issues to a broader public. Game environments provide a safe and controlled setting within which players can learn in an engaging way, whether exploring new clinical techniques, undergoing rehabilitative activities, or being exposed to health-related issues.

Serious games capitalize on their ability to reach target audiences who are already engaging with interactive, rich graphic games recreationally, allowing them to convey instructional outcomes to audiences more resistant to more formal methods. Novel approaches to game development can potentially enhance learning, engagement and treatment outcomes, though much research is needed to provide the methodologies, frameworks, and development approaches necessary to ensure efficacy.

Objective of the Book
This book introduces the development and application of game technologies for health-related serious games. Furthermore, it provides cutting edge research from academia and industry, informing readers about the current and future advances in the area. Encapsulating the knowledge of commercial and noncommercial researchers, developers, and practitioners in a single volume benefits not only the research and development community within the field, but also serves public health interests by improving awareness and outcomes. This book describes key trends, summarizes existing work, and shares both success stories and critiques,, which will be highly beneficial as a state-of-the-art reference for current practitioners, and serve to encourage potential adopters.

Target Audience
The primary audience of this book is composed of innovative professionals and researchers in healthcare. It includes academic and industrial researchers, game professionals/developers, and health and social services professionals who wish to understand designing, developing and deploying video game technology in healthcare settings, as well as the trends and commercial potential of such an innovative approach.

Recommended topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
Topic 1: Key trends of serious games for health
• Roles and impact of Serious Games in health
• Training in the health sector (Clinical, Service and Management training)
• Games for therapy (counseling, psychotherapy, etc.)
• Games for Rehabilitation (disability, injury, age related illness, obesity etc.)
• Exergaming
• Games for awareness (game-based public health initiatives, treatment adherence, infection control, etc.)
• Use of off-the-shelf games for healthcare purposes
Topic 2: Design and Development
• Design methodologies and frameworks
• Development approaches and case studies
• Deployment strategies and technology acceptance
• Assessment and evaluation techniques
Topic 3: Future trends of serious games for health
• Biofeedback and novel interfaces
• Future deployment of games for health
• Multimodal platforms
• Other relevant topics

Submission Procedure
Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before May 15, 2011, a 1-2 page chapter proposal clearly explaining the mission and concerns of his or her proposed chapter. Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by June 15, 2011 about the status of their proposals and sent chapter guidelines. Full chapters are expected to be submitted by August 15, 2011. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-blind review basis. Contributors may also be requested to serve as reviewers for this project.

Publisher
This book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global (formerly Idea Group Inc.), publisher of the “Information Science Reference” (formerly Idea Group Reference), “Medical Information Science Reference,” “Business Science Reference,” and “Engineering Science Reference” imprints. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit www.igi-global.com. This publication is anticipated to be released in 2012.


Editorial Advisory Board

Prof. Sara de Freitas, Serious Games Institute, Coventry University, UK
Prof. Pam Kato, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands
Prof. Alan Chalmers, University of Warwick, UK
Prof. Vinesh Raja, University of Warwick, UK

Important Dates
May 15, 2011: Proposal Submission Deadline
June 15, 2011: Notification of Acceptance
August 15, 2011: Full Chapter Submission
October 15, 2011: Review Results Returned
November 15, 2011: Final Chapter Submission
December 15, 2011: Final Deadline



Inquiries and submissions can be forwarded electronically (Word document) or by mail to:
Dr. Sylvester Arnab
Serious Games Institute
Coventry University
CV1 2TL, UK

Tel.: +44(0)24 7615 8205
E-mail: s.arnab@coventry.ac.uk