Spotlight On: Hospital Gaming Specialists
Ask Marty McMahon what he does at work, and he will jokingly say, “I get paid to play video games.”
The reality of what he does is so much more important. Marty is the Patient Technology Coordinator in the Child Life department at a Children’s Hospital in Houston, Texas. So, while he does in fact get paid to play video games with hospitalized children, Marty is helping kids find a sense of control, distract from pain and connect with others during their hospitalization.
With Marty’s background in game design and educational technology, he was the perfect fit for one of the Gaming Specialist positions. He spends much of his time conducting normalization play, which means he makes life for a hospitalized child as normal as possible.
Because Houston is home to both a thriving game design education community and a robust, innovative medical community, Marty has been part of a gaming incubator that combines gaming apps with health technology to help patients with healthcare compliance. Something as simple as washing their hands, which can be critical for a chemotherapy patient, is turned into a game through an app. For a child, this can mean the difference between completing a task and not completing a task.
One of the innovative technologies that Marty uses is the Starlight Nintendo Switch Gaming Station to support pediatric patients like Jade.
Supporting Hospitalized Kids with the Power of Play
Marty met Jade while she was waiting for four months in the ICU. Diagnosed with Pulmonary Veno Occlusive Disease (PVOD) in 2022, the most rare and severe form of pulmonary hypertension, Jade’s only treatment option was a Double Lung Transplant. There were no medications she could take for it. Jade and her family anxiously waited for four months in the ICU waiting to get a call that she could receive a new pair of lungs.
Time seemed like eternity for Jade, but when Marty rolled the Starlight Gaming Station into her room, time went faster. They would go head-to-head in each other in video games, including Jade’s favorite, Brawlhalla.
“He [Marty] would sit with me for an hour and wouldn’t mention anything about my meds ... I kind of forgot what was going on during that time,” recalls Jade.
Jan, Jade’s mom, adds, “Being able to play with Marty on Starlight’s Gaming Station was a highlight of Jade’s admission ... that was probably the one hour a week I saw her laughing.”
Through playing video games, Marty helped Jade find a sense of normalcy, distraction and joy in a time when she needed it most.
“Every day, I am motivated by the impact gaming has on my patients.”
- Marty
With thousands of children like Jade who are hospitalized for days, weeks and months with no certainty of an end, Gaming Stations are a key tool for Gaming Specialists like Marty to help them stay courageous and endure.
You can provide this essential resource to Starlight’s nationwide network of 800+ hospitals and medical facilities.
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