(Fapesp - Research for Innovation) Information Technology can also be a powerful tool for preserving the cognitive functions of people over 60 years of age. This assumption was the basis for Fabio Ota's initiative to test, in a research project supported by the FAPESP Innovative Research in Small Businesses Program (PIPE), the benefits of teaching game development techniques to a group of 46 elderly people, with the aim of developing logical reasoning and preventing cognitive decline.
Ota has a degree in Information Technology from the Faculty of Technology of São Paulo (Fatec) and an MBA in Strategic IT Management from Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV). In 2001, he created the digital inclusion project for the elderly. And the idea of using the development of gamesto stimulate the cognition of older people began to take shape in 2014, when he created the International School of Game (ISGame) – the trade name of the company Eliza Massako Akiyama Ota, in São Paulo – and began teaching game development games for young people. In 2015, he organized a course for 14 people over 50 years of age within the scope of the UniversIDADE program at the State University of Campinas (Unicamp) and, in the same year, he presented a project to test the methodology to FAPESP's PIPE.
No approved project through PIPE, to build the games the company used a 2D game construction program as a basis, which does not require the use of programming codes. “The challenge begins with planning the different phases of the game, goes through the development of the plot and the choice of objects that will be used in each of the phases, until reaching the final product”, describes Ota, CEO of ISGame. This set of tasks, he emphasizes, is guided by both creativity and logical reasoning.
The study lasted nine months, having been concluded in February 2017. The research involved, in addition to the group of elderly people tasked with developing the game, also a control group (15 people) and a group of players (14 people , who learned to play video games), all with an average age of 65 years. The majority had a higher level of education and no major statistical difference in terms of family structure, health and financial conditions, among other criteria used in the composition of the sample.
To comparatively evaluate the evolution of the three groups, the researchers involved in the project used already known methodologies as a template, such as, for example, the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Trail Making Test (TMT) and the Scenery Picture Memory Test ( SPMT) to assess spatial and temporal orientation, immediate and recall memory, language-naming, repetition, comprehension, writing and drawing copying.
“After the course, the evolution of the group of software developers games it was significantly better than that observed in the other groups, control and players”, says Ota, listing aspects related to assessments of mental health, quality of life, cognitive performance and functional capacity.
This performance was also recognized by some of the group’s participants. In statements to researchers, they mention “better concentration”, “more coordination”, “improved memory”, “mental agility”, “creativity” and “sociability”.
Socialization, in fact, was a secondary objective of the project. The idea was to provide, during the course, an environment conducive to a group's relationship with common tasks and challenges, contributing, additionally, to enhancing self-esteem. “At the end of the course, they invited their children and grandchildren to test the games they developed. It was surprising to see grandparents teaching their grandchildren the steps of the games”, says Ota.
“Having confirmed the effectiveness of the methodology, we are expanding the number of courses for the elderly. We currently have 40 students in Campinas and 40 in São Paulo. And we are closing an important partnership that will allow us to serve an additional 250 people.”
International School of Game (ISGame)
Website: http://isgame.com.br
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InternationalSchoolOfGame/
Email: contato@isgame.com.br
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