Graden Knapp feels like he hit the jackpot.
Never did he think his love for video games could be an instrumental therapy for hospitalized children.
Now he spends his time encouraging therapeutic video game play with patients at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt and gets paid to do it.
“I absolutely love it,” Knapp said. “I have a lot of fun ideas on ways to integrate gaming into the amazing care that is already provided here.
“This is truly my dream job. I remember thinking that there was no way that my two favorite things — working with kids and gaming — could be combined into a paying job. I get a lot of interesting looks when I tell people what I do.”
As a pediatric gaming and technology specialist, Knapp attended specialized training and received required certification to be able to join the Patient- and Family-Centered Care team to provide patients healing support through the creative use of gaming and the power of play.
The program is funded through a two-year grant from Child’s Play Charity, which is devoted to improving the lives of children and teens in children’s hospitals. Created in 2003, the organization has expanded to nearly 200 network hospitals across the globe.
In 2017 Child’s Play funded the first pediatric gaming and technology specialists within children’s hospitals. Today there are 49 such specialists in 42 hospitals throughout the country, Canada, Australia and Kenya, Africa.
Monroe Carell has been a Child’s Play hospital since 2006.
“Play is healing,” said Janet Cross, MEd, administrative director of Patient- and Family-Centered Care at Monroe Carell. “Gaming with technology is the norm for play in children and youth today. This new post will expand our toolbox of ways to support children, youth and their families during the health care experience. Gaming is expressive and offers socialization opportunities, and it’s fun!”
The new career field of gaming technology brings dedicated gaming experts into hospitals to support therapeutic gaming and technology integration as well as provide gaming system support.
“It’s a wonderful way to engage and connect with patients and improve the pediatric patient experience,” said Cross. “Gaming is expressive and offers socialization opportunities as well.”
While gaming can be fun, the program has very intentional clinical goals including:
- Improved clinical outcomes (like time to first ambulation, range of motion, etc.).
- Decreased patient pain and anxiety.
- Increased patient cooperation.
- Improved developmentally appropriate preparation for procedures and diagnosis education.
- Increased confidence of team members and clinicians in using technology with patients.
- Improved patient/family experience and satisfaction.
Knapp has never been more ready.
He spent the first few weeks shadowing team members, learning the clinical environment and inventorying games and equipment. He will now make plans for any necessary maintenance and begin the task of creating a purchase list to ensure he has what he needs to do his job.
While many of Knapp’s interactions with patients will come through referrals, he will also be busy creating opportunities for patient activities in community spaces in the hospital.
“I have a lot of ideas for larger tech initiatives and events like gaming tournaments to help with some community building,” he said. “A lot of what I will be doing will be at the bedside — playing games, talking about gaming. I have a background in competitive gaming.”
Knapp graduated from the University of Kentucky in 2022 with a degree in kinesiology with the initial plan to attend physical therapy school. After completing an internship, he discovered his heart wasn’t in it. He spent some time working at the University of Kentucky, where he was exposed to the gaming and technology field.
“I enjoy all the things about my degree, but I decided to go with my passion, which was video games,” said Knapp. “The earliest memory I have was when I was 5 years old and playing Ramage against my brother. My parents get it now,” he said chuckling.
“When people ask me what I do, I explain it like this — I will be offering emotional and social support through video games. It’s therapeutic gaming, and it’s a really cool approach to patient care.”
Child’s Play reports that pediatric gaming and technology specialists enhance the patient experience and support healing through the creative use of gaming and a wide range of emerging technology platforms. These positions significantly increase the use of virtual and extended reality technologies as a tool for procedural support, such as anxiety reduction and distraction during mild to moderately painful procedures.
