A Narrative Review of the Benefits of Board Games in Health

Abstract

Board games and gamification - the application of game-like elements to non-game contexts - have emerged as promising strategies in healthcare for enhancing education, promoting behavioral change, and fostering social interaction. While traditionally used for entertainment, these tools are increasingly being investigated as therapeutic and diagnostic interventions across the lifespan. This narrative review synthesizes current evidence on the use of board games in patient education, diagnosis, and treatment among pediatric, adult, elderly, and mixed-age populations. Literature was examined across preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic domains. The results reveal that in elderly populations, board games have demonstrated potential in maintaining cognitive health, aiding early diagnosis of cognitive impairment, and supporting individuals with mild cognitive decline, as well as increasing physical activity in nursing home residents. In adults, evidence supports benefits in preventive health education (e.g., osteoporosis, palliative care), chronic disease management, psychiatric symptom reduction, and post-surgical rehabilitation. In pediatric populations, board games have been used to improve knowledge and behaviors related to viral disease prevention, nutrition, chronic disease self-management, emotional competency, and pre-operative anxiety, with emerging evidence for attention-deficit hyperactivity disease (ADHD) symptom management. Mixed-age group interventions include risk factor modification for sexually transmitted infections, alcohol and tobacco use reduction. Across studies, board games often enhanced engagement, knowledge retention, motivation, and psychosocial well-being, though effects on long-term clinical outcomes were less consistent. In conclusion. board games represent safe, versatile, and culturally adaptable tools for health promotion, diagnosis, and therapy. While short-term benefits in knowledge, engagement, and psychosocial outcomes are well documented, evidence for sustained clinical impact is limited. Further large-scale, methodologically rigorous studies are warranted to optimize game design for specific health objectives and evaluate long-term efficacy.