COVID-19 Innovation Approach to Support Wellbeing, Anxiety, and Depression Through Gaming Technologies

Abstract

With this current Covid-19 pandemic, colleges and Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) must focus on applying educational experiences that are enriching, joyful, rewarding, and engaging. With such dynamic changes to the education systems due to the Covid-19 pandemic, gaming technologies have played an essential part in improving retention, engagement, motivation, and wellbeing. The needs of students are ever-changing within the pandemic, and institutions need to focus on wellbeing, anxiety, and depression. Current evidence does support that institutions have seen an increase of students seeking support from specialist teams for anxiety, depression, and wellbeing issues. The preliminary study used within this research is used to discover if gaming approaches can assist individuals/students who are experiencing distress within the Covid-19 pandemic. The research finding within the preliminary analysis studies does show that the use of a Game Jam provided students a chance to interact with others, assist with aspects of engaging in activities outside the everyday routines.