Deadline:

Apr 8, 2009 - Closed

Program Area:

Pioneer

Purpose:

Health Games Research: Advancing Effectiveness of Interactive Games for Health is a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) that funds research to enhance the quality and impact of interactive games that are used to improve health. The goal of the program is to advance the innovation, design and effectiveness of health games and game technologies so that they help people improve their health-related behaviors and, as a result, achieve significantly better health outcomes. In this round of funding, approximately $2 million will be available to support outstanding research projects that study one or more games designed to increase physical activity and/or improve self-care.

Read the news release, Health Games Research Announces 2009 Call for Proposals.

Program Information:

• Call for Proposals


• Overview (PDF)

Eligibility & Selection Criteria:

• Applicants must be nonprofit organizations such as universities, medical centers, government agencies and other entities that are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and are not private foundations as defined under Section 509(a).
• For-profit organizations may participate as subcontractors or consultants on a project team but may not be the applicant organization.
• Applicant organizations must be based in the United States or U.S. territories.
• The focus of this program is the United States. Studies to be conducted in other countries will be considered only if they have the potential to improve the health of U.S. citizens.
• The principal investigator must be employed at the applicant organization at more than 50-percent time.

Proposals must present a well-designed research plan that will lead to better understanding of the way people experience, process and respond to specific features of health games. Proposals must also demonstrate that study findings will help improve the state of knowledge and practice related to health game design and implementation.

Proposals will be reviewed and evaluated by an interdisciplinary national advisory committee of experts, with additional participation by RWJF staff and other reviewers. Proposals will be evaluated according to the following quality standards:

• An innovative approach to improving the effectiveness of interactive health games, through theory-based research focusing on cognitive, emotional, physiological and/or social processing of game experiences.
• Implementation of well-established behavior change principles, presented clearly within the context of relevant research literature. The proposed research must investigate new behavior change strategies to use in interactive health games, or must investigate new ways to deliver existing strategies in a game environment. Originality of research is essential, and straightforward replications of prior research will not be funded.
• Specificity and justification of project goals, hypotheses, methods and outcome measures.
• Use of a clear theory-based framework, conceptual model or rationale.
• Scientific rigor of proposed research and analytic methods, including quality of measurements and data.
• Research qualifications and experience of investigator(s) and relevant expertise of team members, team advisers and subcontractors.
• Clear focus on one or more target populations and a research approach that tests study participants appropriately according to their ability to play certain games and their ability to respond to research measures and questions.
• A study of one or more games delivered or supported by software or technologies that are easy to use and are currently, or soon-to-be, widely available.
• A feasible technical approach, if a game prototype will be developed for the study.
• Potential impact on the design of health games and on the field of health games research.

Key Dates:

• February 11, 2009 (3 p.m. ET) and February 19, 2009 (4 p.m. ET)—Optional Web conference calls for potential applicants. For completedetails and to register, visit www.healthgamesresearch.org.
• April 8, 2009 (3 p.m. ET)—Deadline for receipt of proposals.
• July 2009—Notification of finalists.
• September 1, 2009—Grant start date.
• October 15–16, 2009—Health Games Research Annual Program Meeting.

Total Award:

• Health Games Research will award up to $2 million in this second round of funding.
• Up to 15 research grants of between $100,000 and $300,000 will be awarded for projects lasting one to two years.

Contact:

Jennifer Dobossy, program associate
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
HealthGamesResearch@rwjf.org
Office: (888) 635-7433

Related Materials:

• View National Program Office


• View Program FAQs