The American Cancer Society predicts this year will be the first year in U.S. history that new cancer diagnoses will cross the two million mark. More than half will be people over the age of 65.
Treatment can be tough for older men and women, and once discharged from the hospital, there is a lot of risk in their at-home care and not knowing what to do can land you back in the hospital with serious complications.
Paperwork, information, medications, it can all seem like too much!
“When somebody is typically diagnosed with cancer, you know, it’s a very overwhelming experience,” said Victoria Loerzel, of UCF College of Nursing.
In her 20 years as an oncology nurse, Loerzel has seen patient after patient re-admitted to the hospital for not following directions when they return home.
“The big ones that people get readmitted for are pain, of course, symptoms like nausea and vomiting,” explained Loerzel.
But Loerzel is trying to change that, with a game.
In the game, patients follow a silver-haired avatar home after being discharged.
The choices they make in the game are the same choices they will make for themselves at home.
“Hopefully what they do once they get home is they remember that, ‘Oh, the more I did, the better the avatar felt, and I’m now gonna do some of the things that I did for the avatar in the game at home for myself,’” Loerzel said.
Compared to younger patients, those 65 and older are at a higher risk for severe side effects. Chemo, nausea and vomiting can lead to dehydration and toxicity.
“We’re trying to save them time, we’re trying to save them money. We’re trying to save the hospital system money, and we’re also trying to get them to think differently about managing their care at home,” Loerzel explained.
The game takes just 15 minutes to play, but Loerzel said it can save older cancer patients days and weeks lost to illness or being readmitted into the hospital to manage their symptoms. She received a $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to fund a larger, multi-center study to follow 500 patients for six months after their treatment.