Promoting brain health across the life course using serious games

Dementia prevalence is projected to triple globally by 20401, highlighting the urgent need for effective primary prevention strategies. Promoting healthy behaviours in<br/>childhood may enhance long-term adherence to lifestyle practices that support brain health. However, a range of lifestyle factors in midlife also pose increased risks for<br/>dementia. Therefore, we considered a life course perspective in how best to support children and adults in promoting understanding of lifestyle factors that influence<br/>brain health to reduce the risk of dementia.<br/><br/>Serious digital games (SDGs) are an engaging and interactive approach to education and behaviour change yet no SDGs currently exist to promote the understanding<br/>of brain health and Dementia Risk Reduction (DRR) in children or adults. Using the team’s previous expertise in co-designing Dementia awareness games for children <br/>and adults , the team co-designed novel SDG’s promoting awareness and understanding of brain health and potential for dementia risk reduction, with children and adults in Northern Ireland. We undertook two co-design processes: one with children aged 8-11 years from low socioeconomic areas (2023) and one with university<br/>nursing students who had experience of health promotion with adults (2025) resulting in two serious digital games developed by Focus Games LtdTM.<br/><br/>Both studies demonstrate ‘evidence of promise’ for early-stage intervention, demonstrating improvement in both children’s and adults’ awareness of brain health and Dementia risk reduction following SDG gameplay. Further research is required to identify how SDG’s might influence longer term behaviour change to positively influence brain health.