Paperwork, information, and medications can all seem like too much following a hospital visit.

In her 20 years as an oncology nurse, Victoria Loerzel has seen patients re-admitted to the hospital for not following directions when they return home.

“The big ones that people get readmitted for are pain, of course, symptoms like nausea and vomiting,” Loerzel said.

Loerzel said she is trying to change that with a game.

In the game, patients follow a silver-haired avatar home after being discharged.

The choices they make in the game are the same choices they will make for themselves at home.

“Hopefully what they do once they get home is, they remember that, ‘oh, the more I did, the better the avatar felt. I'm now gonna do some of the things that I did for the avatar in the game at home for myself,” Loerzal said.

Compared to younger patients, those 65 and older are at a higher risk for severe side effects. 

“We're trying to save them time, we're trying to save them money,” Loerzal said. “We're trying to save the hospital system money, and we're also trying to get them to think differently about managing their care at home." 

The game takes just 15 minutes to play, but Loerzel says it can save older cancer patients days and weeks lost to illness, or being readmitted into the hospital to manage their symptoms. 

Loerzal received a $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to fund a larger, multi-center study to follow 500 patients for 6 months after their treatment.

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