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
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
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
Cinema 2
11:15 – 12:45
Mental Health
Dylan Arnold
Games for Good: The Intrinsic and Social Determinants of Healthy Gaming
Jitze Orij
Designing Games for Mental Health
William Mooney & Michelle Horton
Empathy and Empowerment in Digital Play: Unlocking Self-Expression and Skill-Building in Neurodiverse Youth
Foyer
Foyer (Main Stage)
11:15 – 12:45
Rob Smeets
The Use of Virtual Reality in Interdisciplinary Multimodal Pain Treatment: Experiences of Healthcare Professionals and Patient
12:45 – 14:00
Lunch & Demo Sessions
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?
Cinema 1
14.00 – 15.30
Training Tools & Education
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
Uli Strauch
Dutch Society for Simulation in Healthcare
Cinema 2
14.00 – 15.30
Wiley Finch
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
Second Moon & Oscar '63
14.00 – 15.30
(note: Dutch only)
Tijdens deze workshop pakken we knelpunten in de digitale transformatie aan.
Nicole van Eldik
Citrienfonds
Joep Elemans
STZ
Foyer
Foyer (Main Stage)
14.00 – 15.30
Rob Smeets
The Use of Virtual Reality in Interdisciplinary Multimodal Pain Treatment: Experiences of Healthcare Professionals and Patient
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
Cinema 1
11:15 – 12:45
Play Behavior & Design Research
Carla Sílvia Fernandes
“Lockdown Treatment” an Escape Room to Enhance Interprofessional Collaboration in Healthcare
David Cohen
Transparent Game Design: A Framework for Making Learning, Health, and Rehabilitation Playable Through Commercial Game Design
Cinema 2
11:15 – 12:45
Mental Health
Emmanuel Streel
Are you Depressed or Understandably Miserable?: A Call for Game Related Initiatives
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
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?
Foyer
Foyer (Main Stage)
11:15 – 12:45
Rob Smeets
The Use of Virtual Reality in Interdisciplinary Multimodal Pain Treatment: Experiences of Healthcare Professionals and Patient
12:45 – 14:00
Lunch & Demo Sessions
Main Stage
14.00 – 15.30
Training Tools & Education
Training healthcare professionals with playful tools that encourage curiosity, experimentation and repetition.
Jaap Bonjer
DUTCH
Marleen Groenier
DSSH
Cinema 2
14.00 – 15.30
Gamification Tools
Let’s look at the effectiveness of serious games through multiple examples.
Bart van de Bemt
Kelsey Bruins
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.”
Foyer
Foyer (Main Stage)
14.00 – 15.30
Rob Smeets
The Use of Virtual Reality in Interdisciplinary Multimodal Pain Treatment: Experiences of Healthcare Professionals and Patient
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