Media releases

• Pain in the game: Participants sought for Brock study on gaming-related injuries

  Wednesday, June 17, 2020 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 16 June 2020 – R0102

  The popularity of esports is on the rise, with professional gamers sometimes practicing for 12 hours per day or more and at high levels of intensity.

  While this drastically increases their susceptibility to musculoskeletal injuries and discomfort, there are currently no guidelines for gaming ergonomics, prompting the team at Brock University’s Neuromechanics and Ergonomics Lab to launch an online survey in the hopes of developing some.

  “There are no statistics on the injuries of professional gamers,” says PhD student Garrick Forman (MSc ’19), who self-identifies as a big gamer. “Watching online tournaments, I started to see a lot of the players wearing kinesiology tape or braces due to wrist and forearm injuries. This got me thinking about the research potential and its implications for gamers.” 

  Forman, whose doctoral research is Investigating the neuromuscular effects and mechanisms of forearm muscle fatigue on ipsilateral and contralateral fine motor function, hopes to survey as many gamers as possible to get a better sense of their gaming characteristics and habits such as console used, duration of play, frequency of breaks, type of seat, and areas of pain and discomfort.

  “I am trying to find out when gaming injuries are starting and whether people are playing through the pain,” he says. “Not surprisingly, there have been documented injuries to professional gamers at a very young age and even recreational gamers report playing-related pain and discomfort.”

  According to a December 2019 Business Insider report, the global games market is estimated to generate revenues of more than $1 billion in 2020, and is expected to surpass $1.5 billion by 2023.

  “There is a lot of cross-over in gaming to biomechanics,” Forman says. “There are immense long-term possibilities for this research and as the esports industry grows, we need to grow with it.”

  As online gaming and professional leagues have developed, some people now game for a living, making base salaries plus additional prize money. Audiences fill stadiums to watch tournaments and some of these multi-million-dollar organizations have even invested in fully staffed and equipped physiotherapy rooms on-site.

  “One gaming tournament last year had a $35 million prize pool,” Forman says. “This translates into a potentially huge biomechanics industry, especially because we are moving into spending longer durations in the digital world. Due to COVID-19, we are home more and likely gaming more; however, this has long-term implications because of the direction gaming is moving.”

  International in scope, the online survey has already generated responses from participants in more than 25 countries, which will allow the research team to compare data across various nations and continents.

  In anticipation of the survey results, Forman is thinking about the broader impacts and how it might benefit other researchers.

  “I’m excited to possibly help prevent injuries to the forearm, but maybe someone wants to do neck research on gamers,” Forman says. “Our findings may be able to support that.”

  Following analysis of the survey results, Forman, whose supervisor is Kinesiology Associate Professor Michael Holmes, the Canada Research Chair in Neuromuscular Mechanics and Ergonomics, plans to do a number of laboratory studies on hand and forearm muscle fatigue and performance that will relate to gaming ergonomics.

  “For a number of years, our lab has focused on identifying mechanisms of work-related injuries to the hand and wrist,” Holmes says. “Garrick’s thesis will contribute to the development of standards of practice for gaming and could lead to improved hardware design of gaming peripherals.”

  Individuals worldwide who are 18 years of age or older and who play video games at any skill level on a regular basis (both on and off throughout the month, as well as weekly or) are invited to take the online survey, which takes about 10-15 minutes to complete.

  Brock University PhD student Garrick Forman is available for interviews about the research.

   

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Dan Dakin, Manager Communications and Media Relations, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca or 905-347-1970

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  Categories: Media releases

• Niagara Community Observatory releases research brief on Ontario’s Mood Walks program

  Monday, June 15, 2020 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 15 June 2020 – R0101

  Brock University’s Niagara Community Observatory (NCO) has released a research brief about Mood Walks, an Ontario hiking program designed to improve the mental and physical health of people experiencing mental health difficulties and social isolation.

  The NCO’s brief, titled MOOD WALKS: The role of parks and recreation in mental health promotion, examines how the program is structured and implemented by mapping out the flow of information among multi-sectoral partners in the health, and parks and recreation sectors.

  “It’s important to understand how information flows between sectors because many organizations work in isolation from others and good programs and services fail to serve the full scope of intended individuals,” says Associate Professor of Recreation and Leisure Studies and brief co-author Martha Barnes.

  The Mood Walks program is spearheaded by the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA). The Ontario program began in 2014 in collaboration with Hike Ontario, Conservation Ontario, and the Ontario Ministry of Heritage, Tourism, Culture and Sport.

  “Particularly given the current context, as we are planning if and how different services will be re-opening, we need to consider how access to parks and recreation spaces and program can play an important role in promoting community health,” says Assistant Professor of Recreation and Leisure Studies and brief co-author Kyle Rich.

  Barnes and Rich will be presenting their brief on Wednesday, June 17 from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Those wishing to join the online event are asked to RSVP by noon Tuesday, June 16 by e-mailing cphillips3@brocku.ca. A Microsoft Teams link will be sent to those pre-registering.

  Mood Walks is structured to be both planned and delivered at the local level by social service agencies recruited into the program by the CMHA.

  The authors’ research to trace the flow of information among all these groups involved a method called social network analysis (SNA), defined as being “a descriptive social science methodology that maps, measures and finds patterns in the connections between people and/or organizations.”

  They used this method to identify who shared information on mental health, hiking trails, grants and/or the program in general and the pathways of where information is transmitted.  The researchers found the number of organizations sharing information about hiking trails were about three times greater than between organizations sharing information about mental health.

  Health-care providers such as Niagara Region Mental Health and branches of CMHA are the main Mood Walks information providers in the network of organizations, and mostly communicate with other health-care providers.

  “Unlike some networks that have a central organization that connects with all other organizations, the structure of the Mood Walks network is loose and fragmented with many organizations working independently in isolation from the larger network,” says the brief.

  The research brief urges the Mood Walks network to bring everyone together “so that the full potential of the network can be reached” and function more effectively. It makes several recommendations, including:

  • Parks and recreation officials should take on the larger role of promoting community mental and physical health by engaging people to use physical spaces of parks and facilities through formal programs and casual use.
  • There needs to be greater awareness of resources within the parks and recreation sector so that more people can enjoy these resources.
  • Collaboration between the parks and recreation and the health sectors can be improved by specifically connecting with different organizations, providing training on how to build partnerships, and increasing awareness of the resources and services available.

  Research has shown an array of benefits that being outdoors can have on physical, mental and emotional health, particularly in natural settings.

  “Going for a walk can decrease the release of cortisol, which is also referred to as a stress hormone, which can have beneficial effects for well-being,” says Cheryl McCormick, Professor of Psychology and Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies’ Faculty of Mathematics and Science.

  McCormick, along with Professor of Recreation and Leisure Studies Tim O’Connell, will be part of a panel at the virtual event on Wednesday.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Dan Dakin, Manager Communications and Media Relations, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, or 905-347-1970

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  Categories: Media releases