Gamification for promoting advance care planning: A mixed-method systematic review and meta-analysis

Gamification has been adopted in the health care field for broaching sensitive topics and increasing motivation for behavior changes. Games developed to stimulate discussion surrounding end-of-life issues, and thereby promoting advance care planning also emerged.

The aim is to integrate the quantitative evidence and qualitative evidence to understand the effectiveness of and experience with games for advance care planning.

A mixed-methods systematic review and meta-analysis (PROSPERO ID: CRD42020163312) was undertaken. Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal tools were used for quality appraisal. Data were synthesized and pooled for meta-analysis or meta-aggregation when appropriate.

We searched MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library, WanFang, China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database, and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database from the inception of the databases for qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method studies.

Eleven articles of ten studies were included, six of which were feasibility studies. The quality of the quantitative component of most included studies (7/8) was rated as low, and the qualitative component of most included studies (7/8) was rated as moderate. The meta-analysis showed that games for advance care planning are effective to increase self-efficacy, readiness, knowledge, and process of advance care planning behaviors. The meta-aggregation showed that games for advance care planning are highly acceptable and the participants perceived the game experience as fun and enjoyable.

Advance care planning games seem to be a promising intervention for increasing the uptake of advance care planning behaviors. Well-designed randomized controlled trials evaluating the effectiveness of games for advance care planning are needed in the future.