Program
A preview of what the 2026 program has to offer:
Training Tools & Education
Training healthcare professionals with playful tools that encourage curiosity, experimentation and repetition.
Play, Behavior & Design
The best design practices for playful health innovations.
Experts and researchers share their results and ongoing work.
Digital Healthcare
Transforming healthcare with digital tools: let’s make our healthcare futureproof.
AI x Healthcare
Talk of AI is everywhere, but how can we truly get the most out of AI tools, for the support of both patients and healthcare professionals?
Lectures and workshops on ethical, practical and effective use of AI.
Rehab & Care
Engaging patients long-term in rehabilitation is difficult.
In these lectures and workshops, games, simulations and other playful innovations prove their worth.
Mental Health
Let’s untangle mental healthcare.
What can digital solutions and serious games offer to struggling people, long waiting lists and in preventing difficulties altogether?
Day 1
9:00 – 10:00
Registration & Coffee
Main Stage
10:00 – 11:00
Plenary Opening
John Harrison & Jurriaan van Rijswijk
Plenary opening
Arjan Postma
Are You Futures Ready? See the Difference, to Make a Difference
11:00 – 11:15
Coffee Break
Main Stage
11:15 – 12:45
Play Behavior & Design Research
Philipp Busch
Serious Play Conference – Play as a Force for Global Transformation
Petra Salobová
Play it Forward: Clinical Implementation in Slovakia
Sophie May
Escaping to Empathy: Using a Simulation Escape Room to Teach Elderly Care Assessment
Christoph Brosius
Designing Collaboration: Facilitating Games and Gamification in Healthcare through the GiG Formats
Moderator: Menno Deen
Cinema 1
11:15 – 12:45
Public Health & Prevention
Nina Salomons
Non-directive VS Directive Therapy in VR
Paraskevi-Ilektra Seferiadi
Emotional Regulation through the lens of MMORPG raiding: How the player’s experiences matter
Marc-Antoine Schiery
Contemporary Reconstructions of the Social Bond: Religion, Video Games and Work in the Face of Anomie
Louise Marston
Target Malaria The Game
Moderator: Jurriaan van Rijswijk
Cinema 2
11:15 – 12:45
Mental Health
Nike Pyrhönen
Underused Gamification Mech/Publicanics in Child Psychosocial Well-being Interventions: Missed Opportunities?
Dylan Arnold
Games for Good: The Intrinsic and Social Determinants of Healthy Gaming
Jitze Orij
Designing Games for Mental Health
John Harrison
Humdrum with John – Updates on Mental Health
Moderator: John Harrison
12:45 – 14:00
Lunch & Demo Sessions
Foyer
Play it Forward
Games for Health
Target Malaria The Game
Louise Marston
Sickle Cell Adventures
Radboudumc Amalia Children’s Hospital
Coded WALL Game
Coded Club
Lawa – Walking Game
Lawa World
Foyer (Main Stage)
Rob Smeets
The Use of Virtual Reality in Interdisciplinary Multimodal Pain Treatment: Experiences of Healthcare Professionals and Patient
Martina Montenegro
Rethinking COPD Exacerbation Prediction: What Data Can (and Can’t Yet) Tell Us
Main Stage
14.00 – 15.30
Ontdek de Kracht van Digitale Dagboeken in de Zorg
(note: Dutch only)
Drie sprekers, drie perspectieven:
patiënt, zorgverlener en hoofd van een IC-afdeling.
Na een inspiratiesessie gaan we aan de slag met een IC-dagboek.
Hoe kan een dagboek bijdragen op jouw afdeling?
Moderator: Marc Buise
Cinema 1
14.00 – 15.30
Training Tools & Education
Uli Strauch
The DSSH Quality Label for Serious Games: Advancing Validity and Transparency
Emre Mor
The Impact of Digital Gamification on Student Motivation, Course Engagement, and Academic Performance in Psychiatric Nursing Education
Bard Wartena
Taking Care of Karen
Menno Deen
Moderator: Ferry Hogeboom
Cinema 2
14.00 – 15.30
Wiley Finch & Micha van der Meer
Embedding the European AI Act the Practical Way for Developing Medical Games/Gamification
Afra Çalık Kuş
The Insider Advantage: Building Healthcare Games as a Nurse-Developer
Sanne Croes
Instant XR Intervention: Leveraging Flash Mobs to Accelerate Rehab Research
Faviola Brugger-Dadis & Vincent L’Honore Naber
Beyond the Hype: AI, Digital Twins, and XR Games Redefining Brain Fitness
Moderator: Louise Kallen
Second Moon & Oscar '63
14.00 – 15.30
(note: Dutch only)
Digitale zorg belooft toegankelijkheid, efficiëntie en regie, maar voor 1 op de 5 mensen in Nederland is het eerder een obstakel dan een oplossing.
In deze interactieve dialoogsessie onderzoeken we wat digitale zorgtransformatie echt in de weg staat.
Nicole van Eldik
Citrienfonds
Joep Elemans
STZ
Louise Kallen
PAQT
Moderator: Wietske Kamsma
15.30 – 15.45
Tea Break
Main Stage
16.45 – 17.45
Network Drinks
Day 2
9:00 – 10:00
Registration & Coffee
Main Stage
10:00 – 11:00
Plenary Opening
John Harrison & Jurriaan van Rijswijk
Plenary opening
Lukas Gehrke
Neuroadaptive Games: From Mental State Sensing to Meaningful Interaction
11:00 – 11:15
Coffee Break
Main Stage
11:15 – 12:45
Veerle Andries
VR-training mentaliseren
Gert-Jan Brok
The Next Step in XR for Healthcare
Joep Janssen
XR4Rehab! We are ready to fly!
Inge Bergsma
VR Bieb
Rob Smeets
The Use of Virtual Reality in Interdisciplinary Multimodal Pain Treatment: Experiences of Healthcare Professionals and Patient
Moderator: Remco Hoogendijk
Cinema 1
11:15 – 12:45
Play Behavior & Design Research
Nicolette Bodewes
Designing Playful Pediatric Care for Sickle Cell Disease
Carla Sílvia Fernandes
“Lockdown Treatment” an Escape Room to Enhance Interprofessional Collaboration in Healthcare
David (D.S.) Cohen
Transparent Game Design: A Framework for Making Learning, Health, and Rehabilitation Playable Through Commercial Game Design
Elina Laitonen
Evaluating the Effectiveness of an Educational Health Game on the Anxiety of Children Undergoing Anesthesia – a Randomized Controlled Trial
Moderator: Menno Deen
Cinema 2
11:15 – 12:45
Mental Health
Emmanuel Streel
Are you Depressed or Understandably Miserable?: A Call for Game Related Initiatives
Julia Ruth Steinmann
Strengthening Informed Decision-making and Choice of Care During Early Pregnancy Loss in Germany: Co-creative Pre-development of the Serious Game for Health CALMDECIDE
Stefan Göbel
SG4ChildD: Adaptive Serious Games to Strengthen Emotional Competencies in Children with Depression
Elio Salvadori
Beyond Serious Games: The GAMEON Modding Approach to Skill Generalization for Autistic Youth
Moderator: John Harrison
Cinema 3
11:15 – 12:45
(note: Dutch only)
Van introductie en bewustwording tot implementatie en opschaling:
Zorgorganisaties vertellen vanuit hun eigen ervaringen.
Waarom lukt de implementatie maar niet, en hoe hebben zij het toch voor elkaar gekregen?
Sprekers:
Laura Steman, Solis
Tanneke Severijn, Anders werken in de zorg
Hans Santegoeds, Vilente
Karin Geven, Vilente
Rens Baudoin, Mijzo Zorg
Eline van Egmond, Mijzo Zorg
Moderator: Marita Bossers-Nabben
12:45 – 14:00
Lunch & Demo Sessions
Foyer
Play it Forward
Games for Health
Target Malaria The Game
Louise Marston
Sickle Cell Adventures
Radboudumc Amalia Children’s Hospital
Coded WALL Game
Coded Club
Lawa – Walking Game
Lawa World
Foyer (Main Stage)
Rob Smeets
The Use of Virtual Reality in Interdisciplinary Multimodal Pain Treatment: Experiences of Healthcare Professionals and Patient
Martina Montenegro
Rethinking COPD Exacerbation Prediction: What Data Can (and Can’t Yet) Tell Us
Main Stage
14.00 – 15.30
Workshop:
AI - Van Hype Naar Praktijk
(note: Dutch only)
In deze sessie bieden we handvatten om morgen de eerstvolgende stap te zetten richting het toepassen van AI in de praktijk.
Hosted by PAQT.
Moderator: Louise Kallen
Cinema 2
14.00 – 15.30
Tools & Games in Practice
Let’s look at the effectiveness of serious games through multiple examples.
Marleen Groenier
The Dutch Society for Simulation in Healthcare: A Simulation Ecosystem
Martina Montenegro
Rethinking COPD Exacerbation Prediction: What Data Can (and Can’t Yet) Tell Us
Remco Hoogendijk
Sint Maartenskliniek
Moderator: Ferry Hogeboom
Second Moon & Oscar '63
14.00 – 15.30
(note: Dutch only)
Ontwerp je eigen implementatieproces.
Samen met andere zorgprofessionals ontwerpen we onze eigen, passende strategie, van intake naar implementatie.
We vertalen “Dat werkt niet voor ons” naar “Dit is hoe wij het gaan aanpakken.”
Sprekers:
Laura Steman, Solis
Tanneke Severijn, Anders werken in de zorg
Hans Santegoeds, Vilente
Karin Geven, Vilente
Rens Baudoin, Mijzo Zorg
Eline van Egmond, Mijzo Zorg
Moderator: Marita Bossers-Nabben
15.30 – 15.45
Tea Break
Main Stage
15.45 – 16.45
Keynote Session
Lucien Engelen
From Pilots to Plots: How to Get Going Instead of Trying
John Harrison
Closing ceremony
16.45 – 17.45