Action Zone wins communique awards!

A few years back Ursula Davis of UCB asked me what my dream for children with and without epilepsy in the public school systems was....My answer? An educational board game to teach everyone, teachers included, about epilepsy. A few weeks later a team was born, made up of board game designers, child neurologists, International Bureau of Epilepsy president Susanne Lund, epilepsy specialised nurse, communications-pr speicalists MXM, myself and Ursula.....We spent the next few months brainstorming about this game that was eventually born as ACTION ZONE! ACTIONZONE has just been named by the Communiqué awards for medical education BEST INTERNATIONAL PR CAMPAIGN AND BEST CAMPAIGN period! Below are photos of the team receiving the awards.

The Action Zone ™ - Educating for a better understanding of epilepsy

Please select a continent on the map above to view details of Action Zone in your country.

Action Zone ™ is a fun game for you, your friends and your family to play. It will help you to learn about epilepsy, how this can affect some children and what you can do to help.

Action Zone ™ has been translated into 15 languages and over 46,000 games have been produced. The map of the world will help you to locate if Action Zone ™ is available in your country. Please be aware that we may not be able to provide a game if it is not available in your country.

The Action Zone!™ Idea

The initial idea to develop a game about epilepsy came from Marion Clignet (a world famous cyclist who has epilepsy) and from talking with people with epilepsy and their experiences as children. It was quickly realised that children know very little about epilepsy and that this may sometimes lead to problems and misunderstanding at school and at home.

Could a game be developed to educate children their friends, brothers/sisters, carers, teachers and parents, all about epilepsy? The challenge was to make it educational, exciting and in a format that children would want to play.

The game would show that children with epilepsy are really not different to other children and that they can do many things that other children can do. The game would also provide guidance on what to do if a child has an epilepsy seizure.

Action Zone!™ Development

A group of experts was formed and discussed the main issues faced by children with epilepsy and what a game could do to help support the children and their families/carers. Many discussions and experiences were shared in the group for what the game should do, what the children could learn, and how the game would be played.

The key goals for the game were to:

Educate on important and practical aspects of epilepsy

Be played in schools, at home with family and friends, and in epilepsy clinics or wards

The game should be:

Inclusive, inspire confidence

Fun and factual

Appealing to children

Last about 15-20 minutes maximum

After playing the game, children should feel more confident in talking about their epilepsy and that other children should have a better awareness and knowledge about epilepsy.

Action Zone!™ - Tried and Tested

A game board designer developed the initial concepts for games which were then "tried and tested" with the group. A clear favourite was selected that could be developed into what you have played. A test version was playedby children in classrooms, at home with families across Europe and at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London, England. Action Zone!™ was then taken to the IBE congress in Copenhagen and played amongst the attending members of IBE from across the world.

To order a game find out where on www.livebeyondepilepsy.com