The Foundation Play therapy It is intended to help children with cancer. Its motto is “the chemo playing flies by”, And they have installed video consoles in pediatric oncology rooms in hospitals throughout Spain and in other countries.
A scientific study promoted by the foundation, which has been carried out at the Hospital La Paz in Madrid, confirms that playing video games during chemotherapy treatment makes children feel less pain and helps the healing process. This is the first official confirmation of the benefits of video games when it comes to coping with discomfort and pain, showing a very important improvement by reducing the level of anxiety about being in the hospital.
The improvement is so far reaching that even fewer doses of morphine are needed. The documentary “The chemo playing is flying by” reflects this through its protagonists, children overcoming this situation and their families, also the medical team of the hospital in La Paz, where everyone talks about their experience.
An audiovisual product that features the singer Alejandro Sanz (voice in the narration). It is now available on Amazon Prime Video and Filmin.
With this campaign, the Juegaterapia Foundation calls for the donation of consoles now, after Christmas, when we know that in many houses the console has been renewed due to the arrival of the new generation or due to the replacement by one in better condition. With the results of the study, they propose to include videogames in health therapies, which improves the activation of the parasympathetic system, which allows physiological recovery, and reduces pain. There are even symptoms that do not appear if children play during the medical process.
They have the testimony of professionals such as Francisco Reinoso-Barbero, head of the Pain Unit of the La Paz Children’s Hospital in Madrid and co-author of the study:
“The clinical implications of these findings would be important, because video games could be included as part of the non-pharmacological therapeutic plan for pediatric oncological mucositis.”
According Mario Alonso Puig, doctor, lecturer and Patron of Honor of Juegaterapia:
“When a child is absorbed in a game that he enjoys, this full absorption paralyzes that generation of disturbing thoughts that produce anxiety.”
The research is published in the journal Journal of Medical Internet Research with the title of The Association Between Pain Relief Using Video Games and an Increase in Vagal Tone in ChildrenWith Cancer: Analytic Observational Study With a Quasi-Experimental Pre/Posttest Methodology.
If you want to participate, donate or inform yourself, we recommend you visit the official website of Juegaterapia.
