The Use of Serious Games and Simulations in Health Education: Raising Awareness of Depression in College-Age Students

The healthcare profession is task-and-performance-based where clinical reasoning is paramount with integrity, empathy and compassion. Many of these attributes are difficult to teach and assess in a traditional classroom. Patient safety is the ultimate outcome. Several serious game and simulation techniques have surfaced that allow the learner to enhance learning for healthcare professionals in safe environments, without compromising the patient safety, while maintaining a high degree of realism. The author discusses the multifaceted aspect of arts, social sciences and technology using the design, development evaluation and findings of a serious game/simulation technique on topic of suicide intervention/prevention.