Category Archives: Headline Hitters

Headline Hitters: Video Games Are Good For You!

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Video games continue to grow in popularity and widespread use. Genese Davis knows this world well. She is a gamer. She’s also a writer, a pilot, a horseback rider, an athlete, a model and a manager in a financial organization. In other words, she is a highly accomplished, well-rounded woman. She also loves video games. Genese gives us 6 WAYS VIDEO GAMES CAN IMPROVE OUR LIVES.

1) Life Skills Acquired Through Video Games

Video games improve comfort level with professional and social expectations. They require strategy skills, team leadership, problem solving, quick decision-making, delegating responsibility and raising awareness. Building these skills in games can be easily transferred into professional life. Work skills will be enhanced, confidence will grow and leadership skills will develop.

2) Video Games Build Confidence

In video games, the player is the hero. Women must learn to be the hero of their lives. So often, women relinquish this role or downplay their successes. Storylines in video games empower women to believe in themselves and give direct and immediate feedback, i.e., “We couldn’t have won without you,” and “Thank you so much, you saved us!” As simple as this sounds, this positive reinforcement can do wonders for your confidence.

3) Video Games Benefit Relationships (Shocking but True!)

Healthy and content relationships blossom when both partners take a proactive interest in each other’s lifestyle. Even if video games are not your “cup of tea” right now, give one a try. You may be surprised how many positive and artistic attributes are uncovered. Video games offer couples a hobby to explore together. Time playing a video game together is time well spent. Couples can bond while playing video games because they are interacting on new micro and macro levels. Communication improves when playing video games together much more than when watching television or movies. Video games require adaptation and quick decision-making. Video games will constantly challenge the player and can significantly improve brain function.

4) Video Games are NOT Just For Men

When we hear the term “video game players,” people often think of a throng of children, or a group of men. However, the average age of every video game player is thirty-three. Video games are an important form of entertainment for all ages. In fact, video games offer crucial validation for women and men.

5) Video Games Enhance Social Behavior

Video games are a way for women to discover new perspectives, meet new people, hear new theories, and discuss new topics.

6) Video Games Are Healthy

All humans need time to unwind. When we relax, our minds have the chance to process our daily stress and to rejuvenate. Additionally, more and more video games are being created for overall health and wellness Video games give people the means to enhance their lives.

A 2011 study conducted by scientists at Brigham and Young proved that video game exercise can help achieve physical wellness. Active video games such as Dance Dance Revolution and Wii Boxing allow players to experience enough exercise to meet recommendations for physical health. Georgetown University researchers conducted a separate study on overweight teenagers in Washington, D.C., using the Wii version of Sports Active. They found that children who played various games felt better about themselves, lost weight and developed increased focus necessary for academic achievement.

Genese Davis’ debut novel The Holder’s Dominion (Beaver’s Pond Press, March 2013) explores the world of video games from an outsider’s perspective. She has been working in the world of video games for the past few years and has started the online movement, The Gamer in You. More information on Genese can be found at her website, www.genesedavis.com.

 

 

Headline Hitters: Meningitis Explored in TEN DAYS

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Dr. Janet Gilsdorf’s brilliant debut novel, Ten Days (Kensington, September 2012) is an emotional novel that opens up the world of medicine from all angles.

Dr. Gildorf’s novel explores something she is quite familiar with in her work as a pediatrician specializing in infectious diseases, a topic that has been making tragic headlines recently, meningitis:

  • The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention has counted 419 cases of meningitis in 19 states linked to tainted steroid injections. At least 30 people have died. Hearings have been held on the deadly U.S. outbreak.
How can Dr. Gilsdorf use her expertise to help the general public while gaining name recognition?
  • Dr. Gilsdorf can advise people of the signs to look for and the realities of this terrible disease. She can also calm people by explaining the rarity of such cases and real statistics of meningitis.
  • Dr. Gilsdorf can explore the doctor patient relationship from both sides. With healthcare being a primary concern of U.S. citizens, it is important to understand the best way to communicate with your doctor and your family.
  • Dr. Gilsdorf can provide a window into a world that few know but many are fascinated by, the world of modern medicine and its impact on our lives.

In her novel, Ten Days, Dr. Gilsdorf portrays the world of medicine from both sides, that of a parent and a physician. What if a parent doesn’t recognize an illness in their child? What if they don’t seek medical attention quickly? What if one of the parents is a physician?

Ten Days introduces the reader to Anna and Jake. Although Anna and Jake Campbell interact with the world in very different ways, she as a cautious worrier and he as an optimistic realist, they successfully navigate the everyday problems that percolate through their marriage until the night their young son, Eddie, becomes ill. Anna has a bad cold and longs for the peace of evening and Jake, an orthopedic surgery resident, spends the night at the hospital, taking care of other people’s sick wives and children. As a result of their irreversible, achingly regrettable inactions, Anna and Jake face losing their child.

The characters in Ten Days represent the many parents and physicians Dr. Gilsdorf encounters during her work as a pediatrician. Dr. Gilsdorf is the Robert P. Kelch Professor of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases at the University of Michigan, Director of Haemophilus influenza research laboratory, Director of the Cellular and Molecular Biology in Pediatrics Training Program and Co-Director of the Molecular and Clinical Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases.

Visit Janet Gilsdorf on her website and read her blog for insight into the world of medicine.