A Game-based Platform to Tackle a Public Health Problem

Mosquito-borne diseases are a global public health concern. Individuals' behavior may affect the transmission dynamics of diseases. For instance, improper storage of water can become a breeding site for the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the vector of dengue, zika, chikungunya and urban yellow fever viruses. Most of the Aedes foci are in or near people's homes and the control of vector population is essential to prevent these diseases. Thereby, population awareness should be part of public health policies. Games are a powerful tool to promote awareness and behavioral changes, including public health. Our research goals are 1) the development and evaluation of a gamification-based system to support entomological and epidemiological surveillance through volunteered contributions, integrated with a 2) a game-based platform to be used as a complementary tool to promote awareness and behavioral changes. Some partial results are the game design, prototypes and demos. The expected results are the release and evaluation of a mixed reality game-based platform to support public health actions based on education and engagement of population aimed at vector control.