Sanofi Diabetes has unveiled their new gaming app aimed at children, parents and carers of children with type 1 diabetes in the UK.
The free game is available for iOS and Android mobile devices as well as PCs and is designed to allow children to share knowledge about diabetes.
Rebecca Reeve, head of professional relations at Sanofi Diabetes, said: “As a company, we have entered the diabetes gaming arena to improve health outcomes for children with type 1 diabetes.
“We hope that the teachers, parents and carers for whom this game was developed will make it their mission to make this game a success.”
The game’s launch follows less than a year after Sanofi’s last diabetes-focus mobile game, Monster Manor, which encouraged players to regularly test and log their blood glucose levels.
The company is keen to see its latest app taken up within schools and will offer teachers an educational pack that includes the Mission T1D game, as well as a video and quiz, for use in lessons to help all children understand the condition.
To that end Sanofi has produced two versions of the game, the first an interactive one and the second a downloadable version that can be used offline, perhaps – the company suggests – with teachers in their classrooms.
Mission T1D set in a school and players must win points to advance through the game, with each level providing short, practical and illustrated message from ‘the sensei’, a wise old man, about living with type 1 diabetes at school along with a number of educational videos to reinforce key topics.
Players can become a ‘Grand Master’ at the end of each level after watching educational videos about T1D. These videos explain key subjects including what T1D is, everyday life with T1D, what is hypoglycaemia and hyperglacaemia and how to help, and how to have a healthy diet.
Karen Addington, chief executive of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) commented: “Type 1 diabetes is a complex and serious condition. Furthermore, when the facts about Type 1 diabetes are not appreciated and understood, extra pressure is placed upon those living with it.
“Thankfully, technology can play a big role in broadening awareness and understanding among people of all ages.”
