Gamification is the use of technology to turn walking, running, or cycling around a local community, into a game. The Essex LDP been working with Intelligent Health, creators of Beat the Street, and Street Tag to test this concept, to understand how these games can benefit residents in our local communities.
Through LDP funding, we have been able to test these games in Basildon, Colchester and Tendring in a range of settings including local communities, workplaces, care homes and schools. The positive outcomes due to the introduction of these games, has shown us that they’re working, and these outcomes have been compiled into a comprehensive report. The Essex LDP has demonstrated that both Street Tag and Beat the Street games can increase and sustain levels of physical activity, in local communities.
Beat the Street is a 6-week game where residents either as a team or individually, are encouraged to explore their local area by tapping cards and fobs against Beat Boxes distributed across their town, earning points along the way. There are 2 main leader boards for the Essex games: one for schools and the other for the local community. Creating leader boards introduces a competitive aspect, which has proven to make people want to try harder and be successful. Research has shown that Beat the Street works at scale, engaging around 10-13% of the area’s population and after one game, it is suggested that the social cohesion in the area increased from 1% to 17%, demonstrating the togetherness that this style of competition creates.
As well as having positive benefits on the area physically, the economical impacts are also clear to see. The introduction of the game meant that 40% of residents travelled to the town centre specifically to play Beat the Street, visiting a range of local attractions and businesses whilst they were there. The environmental impacts that Beat the Street has had specifically for schools, are also positive, there was a 53% reduction in traffic outside the school gates.
Street Tag on the other hand is a longer game, typically lasting between 12-14 weeks. Similarly, to Beat the Street, Street Tag uses virtual tags so teams can collect points on an app by moving into specific locations with a tag. Teams can be formed by schools, workplaces, families, and friendship groups, with a live leader board with rewards and prizes. The average number of those taking part over the course of the school game was 1,555 players, and 486 for the community leader board. Street Tag has launched games in Basildon, Colchester, Clacton and most recently, Harwich and Walton.
In addition, Street Tag’s ‘MOVE IT’ is designed for care homes to help get residents up and moving. The ‘MOVE IT’ scheme was trialled at Loganberry Lodge in Colchester, with ‘MoveBoxes’ placed at specific locations within the care home. A care home Wellbeing Lead at Loganberry lodge stated that; “The scheme has shown significant improvement with residents’ mobility. Their spirits have been lifted and their determination to walk that little bit further each day has been inspiring. Seeing them actively engaging and participating through their own free will is so rewarding and satisfying to see – especially one resident who chose not to leave her room all prior to the scheme being in place.”
Through both Beat the Street and Street Tag initiatives in Essex, just under 2,000,000 miles have been covered so far by participants through either walking, running or cycling and this distance has been covered by a total of 11,621 players, whereby 51% live in IMD areas 1-2. 45% of the players that took part in the Harwich & Dovercourt Beat the Street game, remained active 6 months later demonstrating that gamification can help contribute to positive behaviour change.
Another form of gamification that Active Essex has supported and taken part in is Working Well’s ‘Big Team Challenge’. The Big Team challenge encourages workplaces to form teams and compete against other organisations and colleagues, by walking as many steps as possible and completing a set route virtually. Recorded by smart watches or simply tracking how many steps you’ve done in a day on the app, steps are totalled up as a team and turned into miles.
Additionally, the walking app Go Jauntly offers a variety of walking routes throughout Essex. Active Essex launched 50 miles of hyper-local digital walking trails in partnership with the walking app earlier this year, in a bid to support the physical and mental wellbeing of residents. Users can upload walking routes they enjoy or find those suggested by others, all with the aim of getting outdoors and enjoying the fresh air.
It’s clear to see that gamification is a great way of encouraging residents to be more physically active, in an informal and fun manor. It helps grow community connection and has also shown to have improved wellbeing in both adults and children, making them more active and healthier in the process.
Read the full report here. https://www.activeessex.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Gamification-Report-FINAL-min.pdf
