As Gamers Outreach has grown through the years, we’ve learned every hospital has varying levels of capacity to manage entertainment for patients.
Health workers often interact with multiple families each day. On top of providing care, they’re also responsible for completing a range of management tasks. All of this activity happens within the period of a shift, and working in a timely manner is absolutely critical for the wellbeing of patients.
This focus on treatment means it can be difficult for staff to actively provide families with entertainment. And when gaming devices do exist, hospital staff may be under resourced when it comes to overseeing equipment.
That’s why we created Player 2. It’s a volunteer initiative intended to bring gamers into hospitals to help manage content for patients.
You could think of Player 2 like Best Buy Geek Squad, but for hospitals. Every Player 2 is a gamer who commits a certain period of time to regularly visit a hospital. Tasks may include updating devices, loading new content, or playing games with patients.
During the pandemic, Player 2 was entirely put on hold as hospitals paused all volunteer initiatives across their facilities. Now, many hospitals have reactivated their volunteer programs, and we’re ready to hit reset on the Player 2 initiative.
As of this recording we have 31 hospitals that are awaiting Player 2 volunteers. Each hospital can only accept a limited number of Player 2s. For that reason, we are actively prioritizing individuals that have a preference to work in the medical field, For instance, if you are a medical student and need to commit volunteer hours at your local hospital, Player 2 can be a great way to fullfill academic requirements while also supporting gameplay experiences for patients.
Please know every application will be evaluated, but we’ll only be able to accept applicants based on the needs of the local hospital.
If this volunteer opportunity sounds like it’s of interest, and you’re able to commit at least a semester to weekly visits, we’d love to invite you to apply to be a Player 2. Check out our website, GamersOutreach.org, and make your way to the Player 2 program page. There you can fill out an application to register your interest. If there’s a fit, our team will be in touch to walk you through next steps.
As well, if you represent a hospital with interest in Player 2, we’d invite you to follow those same steps to register your facility.
We look forward to meeting you and thank you in advance for your interest in the program!