Open AccessDeveloping an Obesity Prevention Intervention in Virtual Worlds: The International Health Challenge in Second Life
Author(s) -
Sameer Siddiqi,
Scherezade K. Mama,
Rebecca E. Lee
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of virtual worlds research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1941-8477
DOI - 10.4101/jvwr.v3i3.809
Subject(s) - intervention (counseling) , multidisciplinary approach , psychological intervention , metaverse , psychology , medical education , knowledge management , public relations , applied psychology , internet privacy , medicine , computer science , nursing , sociology , political science , virtual reality , human–computer interaction , social science
Virtual worlds (VW) present an exciting range of possibilities for health researchers and practitioners. The value of this technology lies its ability to tap into non-traditional participant pools, to use innovative and effective forms of social interaction, and to facilitate cost-effective solutions to common challenges. The International Health Challenge (IHC) was a health intervention study done entirely in the VW of Second Life (SL) aimed at determining the feasibility and effect of obesity prevention interventions in VWs. The IHC initially started as a strategy to develop a multicultural obesity prevention project in SL as evidenced by a full service build, activities, and participating resident avatars. Using existing resources and extensive social networks, together with volunteer assistance, the IHC flourished into a full scale health intervention with the goals of improving health knowledge, attitudes and behavior among resident avatars. In the absence of clear technological and methodological precedence, our multidisciplinary team developed a novel system of in-world and Web-based interactive measurement tools, data management solutions, and participant recruitment and retention strategies.