Why Health Care Needs Design Research: Broadening the Perspective on Communication in Pediatric Care Through Play
Eva Knutz1, Jette Ammentorp, Poul-Erik Kofoed
1a Department of Communication Design , Kolding School of Design.
Insights
A new computer game, the Child Patient game (CPgame), helps assess the emotional state of hospitalized children aged 4-6. Preliminary results show children express emotions through play, revealing distinct player types and unique play patterns in hospitalized pediatric patients.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Healthcare
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Child Psychology
Background:
- Current pediatric healthcare methods for assessing emotional states in young children (4-6 years) are inadequate.
- Existing tools, often adapted from adult approaches, neglect the significance of imaginative experiences and play crucial for child development.
- There is a critical need for innovative methods to understand and communicate with hospitalized pediatric patients.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce a novel design-oriented method for assessing the emotional states of hospitalized pediatric patients.
- To present the Child Patient game (CPgame), an experimental computer game designed for this purpose.
- To explore the potential of play-based digital tools in pediatric healthcare communication.
Main Methods:
- Development of the Child Patient game (CPgame), an experimental computer game.
- Conducting two comparative analyses of CPgame usage in a hospital setting.
- Observing and analyzing the play patterns and emotional expressions of pediatric patients during gameplay.
Main Results:
- The CPgame serves as a viable system for children to express emotions through play.
- Three distinct player types were identified among pediatric patients interacting with the CPgame.
- Hospitalized pediatric patients exhibit significantly different play patterns compared to non-hospitalized children.
Conclusions:
- The CPgame demonstrates potential as an effective tool for understanding the emotional states of young hospitalized children.
- Play-based digital interventions can enhance communication and emotional assessment in pediatric healthcare.
- This interdisciplinary approach, integrating design research and healthcare objectives, offers a promising new direction for pediatric patient care.
Abstract:
Today's pediatric health care lacks methods to tap into the emotional state of hospitalized pediatric patients (age 4-6 years). The most frequently used approaches were developed for adults and fail to acknowledge the importance of imaginary experiences and the notion of play that may appeal to children. The scope of this article is to introduce a new design-oriented method of gathering information about the emotional state of pediatric patients using an experimental computer game called the Child Patient game (CPgame). The CPgame was developed at a Danish hospital, and the results of the preliminary tests show that games could serve as a system in which children are willing to express their emotions through play. The results are based on two comparative analyses of the CPgame through which it is possible to identify three different types of players among the patients playing the game. Furthermore, the data reveal that pediatric patients display a radically different play pattern than children who are not in hospital. The inquiry takes an interdisciplinary approach; it has obvious health care-related objectives and seeks to meet the urgent need for new methods within health care to optimize communication with young children. At the same time, design research (i.e., the development of new knowledge through the development of a new design) heavily impacts the method.
More Related Videos
08:42A Familiarization Protocol Facilitates the Participation of Children with ASD in Electrophysiological Research
Published on: July 31, 2017
11:50Clinical Practice Protocol of Creative Music Therapy for Preterm Infants and Their Parents in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Published on: January 7, 2020
Related Concept Videos
01:15Techniques of therapeutic communication I: Active Listening, Sharing Observations, Validation, and Using Touch
Therapeutic communication is not the same as social interaction. Social interaction has no goal or purpose and consists of casual information sharing, whereas therapeutic communication has a plan or purpose for the conversation. Therapeutic...
01:30Therapeutic Communication
Verbal communication depends on language or a prescribed way of using words so that people can share information effectively. The critical aspects of verbal...
01:28Communication
01:03Communication
01:25Role of Communication in the Nursing Process I: Assessment and Diagnosis
The nursing process considers the patient's emotional and physical well-being. The process can be repeated or stopped at any point if judged essential. Assessment is the first step in the nursing...
01:25Role of Communication in the Nursing Process II: Planning and Implementation