title: "Polio Eradication" Game May Increase Public Interest in Global Health.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Interactive games that highlight global health challenges and solutions are a potential tool for increasing interest in global health. To test this hypothesis, we developed an interactive "Polio Eradication" (PE) game and evaluated whether playing or watching was associated with increased public interest in global health.
  
  
  METHODS
  The PE game is a life-size, human board game that simulates PE efforts. Four players-a researcher, a transportation expert, a local community coordinator, and a healthcare worker-collaborate as an interdisciplinary team to help limit ongoing and future polio outbreaks in Pakistan, represented on the game board. Participants who played or observed the game and those who did not participate in the game, but visited noninteractive global health exhibits, completed a survey on participation outcomes. We used relative risk regression to examine associations between cofactors and change in global health interest.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three variables predicted increased global health interest among the game participants: Having little or no previous global health knowledge prior to playing the game (risk ratio [RR]=1.28; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.13-1.45), not currently being involved in global health (RR=1.41; 95 percent CI, 1.07-1.85), and visiting Seattle (RR=1.25; 95 percent CI, 1.04-1.51).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that a hands-on, interactive game may increase the public's interest in global health, particularly among those with minimal previous knowledge of or involvement in global health activities.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, Schools of Public Health and Medicine, University of Washington , Seattle, Washington.|2 Department of Global Health, Schools of Public Health and Medicine, University of Washington , Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Toluwalose A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Okitika
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Global Health, Schools of Public Health and Medicine, University of Washington , Seattle, Washington.|4 Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center , Seattle, Washington.|5 Department of Medicine, Schools of Public Health and Medicine, University of Washington , Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Ruanne V
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Barnabas
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Biostatistics, Schools of Public Health and Medicine, University of Washington , Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Tessa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rue
authors.affiliation: 6 Cinematic Arts Interactive Media and Games Division, University of Southern California , Los Angeles, California.|7 Harebrained Schemes , Bellevue, Washington.
authors.forename: Jordan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Weisman
authors.affiliation: 8 Digipen Institute of Technology , Redmond, Washington.
authors.forename: Nathan A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.affiliation: 9 Departments of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Global Health, Emory University , Atlanta, Georgia .
authors.forename: Walter A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Orenstein
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Global Health, Schools of Public Health and Medicine, University of Washington , Seattle, Washington.|4 Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center , Seattle, Washington.|5 Department of Medicine, Schools of Public Health and Medicine, University of Washington , Seattle, Washington.|10 Department of Epidemiology, Schools of Public Health and Medicine, University of Washington , Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Judith N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Wasserheit
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D060740:Disease Eradication; D005085:Exhibitions as Topic; D005260:Female; D005717:Games, Experimental; D000068957:Games, Recreational / Q000523:psychology*; D014943:Global Health / Q000193:education*; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D057226:Information Seeking Behavior; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011051:Poliomyelitis / Q000517:prevention & control; D000066908:Simulation Training; D055815:Young Adult