Socioeconomic status and health: Using gamification to illustrate the relationship

Jeremy L. Foust and Jennifer M. Taber

Chapter 3 in Teaching Health Psychology, 2026, pp 47-59 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: A key concept in health psychology concerns the strong relationship between lower objective socioeconomic status (SES) – defined as education, income, and occupation – and poorer health. SES influences health and illness via multiple mechanisms, including environmental factors, psychological responses, exposure to carcinogens and injury, health-relevant behaviours, and biological responses. This dynamic, multifaceted, mechanistic relationship can be difficult for students to grasp. The chapter discusses using gamification to illustrate the complex associations between SES and health. Research suggests that gamification – turning a concept into a game featuring common elements such as point scoring and competition – is an effective technique to help teach complex topics. We describe an SES and health board game developed by one of the authors and pilot-tested in classrooms across two universities. We provide resources to enable instructors to adapt the game or to create different iterations of activities to gamify the topic of SES and health.

Keywords: Socioeconomic Status; Health; Gamification; Education; Income; Occupation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035359851
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