Page - 307 - in Digital Entrepreneurship - Impact on Business and Society

In a pilot project under the patronage of among others Germany’sMinister of State forDigitalization,which studied the health-promoting effects regular gaming has on the social, physical, and cognitive resources of senior citizens, thefindings were clear: Compared to non-gamers, gamers showed significant improvements in cognitiveperformance, gait stability,motor skills, stamina, andcoordination.There are alsomoderate improvements as it pertains to the health-related quality of life, the extent ofwhich is practically significant. Therewere also positive trends in the subjective experienceof pain,whichwas reducedby regular gaming.As a result of this study, “BARMER [one of Germany’s largest health insurance funds] is con- vincedofRetroBrain’smemoreBox”, asDr.med.ManiRafii,memberof theboard, comments: “The concept combines movement with enjoyment and games and makes it possible for elderly people to remain mentally and physically fit and to actively participate in society. Sincewe had positive experienceswith the concept within the framework of a pilot phase,we are now rolling it out nationwide, sowe cangiveevenmoreelderlypeople theopportunity to takepart in thepreventiveand health-promoting capabilities of this video game platform” (Rafii, M., as cited by Jakob-Pannier 2019, p. 1). In 2019, Germany’s National Association of Statutory Health InsuranceFunds commissioned the Institute for Innovation andTechnology ofVDI/VDE-IT to conduct a study on the potential impact of digital tools in care andnursing.According to this study, thememoreBox “proves, howpeople in need of care profit from the use of a digital tool in different fields including their cog- nitive abilities, social interaction and conclusion, as well as gait quality”, and furthermore even the nursing staff benefits” (GKV-Spitzenverband 2019, p. 151). WhatopenedmemoreBox thedoor to theHealthcareMarketwas theGermanAct to StrengthenHealth Promotion andPreventiveHealthCare,which has been in effect since the summerof 2015.Theneed for this lawshowshowdiametrically opposed the two poles of “having fun” and “getting/being healthy”were at that time. The legislator created this law tomotivate the health insurance industry to investmore money in prevention. Given that it generally takes fewer resources and is more promising to keep people healthy—instead of trying to heal them after they have taken ill,which takesmuchmore effort andhas far lower chances of success,—the legislator created the Prevention Act obligating health insurance companies to allocate sufficient funds to promote meaningful prevention. Like many social business start-upsmakinguseofdigital technology,RetroBrainR&Doperates inan ecosystem of cross-sectoral quality; besides the “PEP Program” of Ashoka, one may particularly mention the “Impact Factory”.2 Thus, RetroBrain R&D can be studied as an exemplary case for aspects like “key partner”, “key environmental actors and influencers”, and “beneficiaries” of our “Decade of Action”—Canvas. 2A joint initiative of a diverse group of founding partners including German family equity company Franz Haniel &Cie. GmbH, Beisheim Foundation, KfW foundation (of the KfW, the German government-owned development bank), andAnthropia gGmbH, a social business itself. 316 M. Shamsrizi et al.