LaPointe, Ellen (HopeLab Foundation)

"Play that Works: The Impact of the Re-Mission Video Game for Cancer"

Ellen LaPointe is responsible for developing key strategic private and public sector partnerships to increase HopeLab’s institutional resources, leverage the potential impact of its innovative solutions, and raise awareness of HopeLab’s work among thought leaders and key stakeholders. She assumed the role of Vice President of Strategic Partnerships in May 2007 following a two-year tenure as Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at HopeLab.

Ellen has extensive experience in organizational leadership, strategy development and implementation, partnership cultivation, fund development, communications, financial management, and program oversight. Prior to joining HopeLab, Ellen served as Executive Director of Project Inform, a national nonprofit AIDS treatment information and advocacy organization. She was Director of Clinical Research at Saint Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco, California from 1992 to 1996, and Coordinator of the Brown University AIDS Program from 1990 to 1992. Ellen is also an attorney and was an associate at the firm of Heller Ehrman LLP in San Francisco, California from 1999 to 2001.

Ellen received her B.A., magna cum laude, in Community Health from Brown University and her J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law.

Presentation:

HopeLab's Re-Mission videogame was developed as a fun, rationally targeted behavioral intervention to improve health outcomes in teens and young adults undergoing treatment for cancer. Development began with evidence-based needs assessment studies to identify specific behavioral objectives. Game content was then engineered to impact specific behavioral targets. In a randomized controlled trial, patients who received Re-Mission (vs. a control commercial videogame) showed higher levels of cancer-related knowledge, greater rates of increase in self-efficacy to manage their illness, greater adherence to prescribed antibiotic regimens, and higher blood levels of oral chemotherapy. HopeLab is now conducting further research to understand the specific mechanisms of action in the Re-Mission game, building an evidence base that demonstrates how fun, engaging products can be tools for positive health behavior change.

Contact:

Ellen L. LaPointe

HopeLab | Vice President, Strategic Partnerships

1991 Broadway Street, Suite 136

Redwood City, CA 94063-1957

USA

www.hopelab.org