Board Game-Based Training on Community Mobility of Mobility Device Users: A Validation Study.

Area of Science:

• Rehabilitation Engineering
• Human Factors Engineering
• Assistive Technology

Background:

• Community participation for mobility device users is often limited by real-world barriers.
• Effective training necessitates foundational device skills and realistic scenarios for real-time response.
• The HERL-Town educational board game aims to train mobility device users and stakeholders in community transportation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate transportation scenarios and response options within the HERL-Town educational board game.
• To assess the representativeness of game scenarios for real-life transportation barriers.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of proposed strategies for addressing these challenges.

Main Methods:

• A nationwide online survey was conducted with mobility device users and their travel companions.
• Participants rated 60 transportation scenarios and their corresponding response options using the Item-level Content Validity Index.
• Preferences for response options were ranked to identify optimal strategies.

Main Results:

• 58 out of 60 scenarios met the Item-level Content Validity Index standard (0.78) and were retained.
• Participant preferences for the most and least preferred response options were consistent.
• Variability was observed in preferences for intermediate response options.

Conclusions:

• Validated scenarios and ranked response options can be integrated into the HERL-Town game.
• The game elements effectively simulate transportation barriers and facilitate discussions.
• This approach supports enhanced training for safe and independent community mobility among mobility device users.