Video game helping children overcome anxiety over getting vaccinations

Doctors at Stanford Medicine have rolled out a video game designed to help children lose their fear and anxiety over getting vaccinations ahead of the winter season and their school requirements.

The video game is part of the Stanford Children's CHARIOT program (Childhood Anxiety Reduction through Innovation and Technology). Doctors hope it can make the experience more positive and encourage more children to keep up with recommended immunizations as adults. 

"We frequently encounter kids and even big kids, adults, who are scared of needles and shots," said Dr. Sam Rodriguez, a pediatric anesthesiologist with Stanford Medicine. He is also a founder and co-director of the CHARIOT program.

The game is called Piñataz and lets the patient design a piñata, collect points, and then try to break open the one they designed. A combination of music, handheld objects like a rubber chicken, and prizes at the end all make the experience a needed distraction while receiving a vaccine or flu shot.

"How can we address this needle phobia, this fear of needles and target it at a really, really young age so that don't we have adults who are scared of needles in the future and hesitant to get vaccines," Rodriguez told KPIX. "Some kids, sometimes building the pinata is their favorite part, that will be the whole experience for them, that's all they want to do."

The pilot project is still undergoing an expansion within Stanford locations to train staff and get more feedback from young patients. It already was designed with more than a decade of experience and research doctors like Rodriguez can pull from, including his own perspective as a parent of three children. 

Rodriguez says this will be a win for the whole community if it helps more children get immunized.

"It is a public health measure that not only helps the individual but society as a whole," he said.