What Matters to Patients: Community-Engaged Design for Healthcare-Related Serious Games.

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Patient Engagement
• Serious Games

Background:

• Serious games aim for patient-centered goals but often lack co-design with patients.
• Current practices frequently evaluate game efficacy post-deployment, missing crucial participatory design.
• This gap limits the acceptance, uptake, and impact of serious games for patient education.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a patient-centered participatory approach for developing a serious game.
• To teach self-advocacy skills to newly diagnosed cancer patients.
• To integrate patient insights throughout the game development lifecycle.

Main Methods:

• Character development involved patient advocates, survivors, clinicians, and researchers.
• Storyline creation utilized qualitative interviews with patients and survivors for realistic scenarios.
• Game evaluation metrics were informed by patient preferences, accessibility, and usability.

Main Results:

• Patient feedback refined characters, sensitive information delivery, and inclusive storylines.
• Refinements addressed pain management, family dynamics, financial concerns, and healthcare interactions.
• Game trial participants found scenarios relevant and reported increased comfort in self-advocacy.

Conclusions:

• Patient-centered participatory design is essential for developing effective narrative serious games.
• Integrating patient input across all development stages enhances game relevance and impact.
• This approach fosters patient comfort in communication and support-seeking.