Developing a Health Game to Prepare Preschool Children for Anesthesia: Formative Study Using a Child-Centered Approach
BackgroundEvery year, millions of children undergo medical procedures that require anesthesia. Fear and anxiety are common among young children undergoing such procedures and can interfere with the child’s recovery and well-being. Relaxation, distraction, and education are methods that can be used t...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:527fdc8756574e0ba754e0a326377513 2023-10-01T03:56:59+02:00 Developing a Health Game to Prepare Preschool Children for Anesthesia: Formative Study Using a Child-Centered Approach Brynja Ingadottir Elina Laitonen Adalheidur Stefansdottir Anna Olafia Sigurdardottir Berglind Brynjolfsdottir Heidi Parisod Johanna Nyman Karitas Gunnarsdottir Katrín Jónsdóttir Sanna Salanterä Anni Pakarinen 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.2196/31471 https://doaj.org/article/527fdc8756574e0ba754e0a326377513 EN eng JMIR Publications https://games.jmir.org/2022/1/e31471 https://doaj.org/toc/2291-9279 2291-9279 doi:10.2196/31471 https://doaj.org/article/527fdc8756574e0ba754e0a326377513 JMIR Serious Games, Vol 10, Iss 1, p e31471 (2022) Information technology T58.5-58.64 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.2196/31471 2023-09-03T00:53:57Z BackgroundEvery year, millions of children undergo medical procedures that require anesthesia. Fear and anxiety are common among young children undergoing such procedures and can interfere with the child’s recovery and well-being. Relaxation, distraction, and education are methods that can be used to prepare children and help them cope with fear and anxiety, and serious games may be a suitable medium for these purposes. User-centered design emphasizes the involvement of end users during the development and testing of products, but involving young, preschool children may be challenging. ObjectiveOne objective of this study was to describe the development and usability of a computer-based educational health game intended for preschool children to prepare them for upcoming anesthesia. A further objective was to describe the lessons learned from using a child-centered approach with the young target group. MethodsA formative mixed methods child (user)-centered study design was used to develop and test the usability of the game. Preschool children (4-6 years old) informed the game design through playful workshops (n=26), and usability testing was conducted through game-playing and interviews (n=16). Data were collected in Iceland and Finland with video-recorded direct observation and interviews, as well as children’s drawings, and analyzed with content analysis and descriptive statistics. ResultsThe children shared their knowledge and ideas about hospitals, different emotions, and their preferences concerning game elements. Testing revealed the high usability of the game and provided important information that was used to modify the game before publishing and that will be used in its further development. ConclusionsPreschool children can inform game design through playful workshops about health-related subjects that they are not necessarily familiar with but that are relevant for them. The game’s usability was improved with the participation of the target group, and the game is now ready for clinical testing. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles JMIR Serious Games 10 1 e31471 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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English |
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Information technology T58.5-58.64 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
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Information technology T58.5-58.64 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Brynja Ingadottir Elina Laitonen Adalheidur Stefansdottir Anna Olafia Sigurdardottir Berglind Brynjolfsdottir Heidi Parisod Johanna Nyman Karitas Gunnarsdottir Katrín Jónsdóttir Sanna Salanterä Anni Pakarinen Developing a Health Game to Prepare Preschool Children for Anesthesia: Formative Study Using a Child-Centered Approach |
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Information technology T58.5-58.64 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
BackgroundEvery year, millions of children undergo medical procedures that require anesthesia. Fear and anxiety are common among young children undergoing such procedures and can interfere with the child’s recovery and well-being. Relaxation, distraction, and education are methods that can be used to prepare children and help them cope with fear and anxiety, and serious games may be a suitable medium for these purposes. User-centered design emphasizes the involvement of end users during the development and testing of products, but involving young, preschool children may be challenging. ObjectiveOne objective of this study was to describe the development and usability of a computer-based educational health game intended for preschool children to prepare them for upcoming anesthesia. A further objective was to describe the lessons learned from using a child-centered approach with the young target group. MethodsA formative mixed methods child (user)-centered study design was used to develop and test the usability of the game. Preschool children (4-6 years old) informed the game design through playful workshops (n=26), and usability testing was conducted through game-playing and interviews (n=16). Data were collected in Iceland and Finland with video-recorded direct observation and interviews, as well as children’s drawings, and analyzed with content analysis and descriptive statistics. ResultsThe children shared their knowledge and ideas about hospitals, different emotions, and their preferences concerning game elements. Testing revealed the high usability of the game and provided important information that was used to modify the game before publishing and that will be used in its further development. ConclusionsPreschool children can inform game design through playful workshops about health-related subjects that they are not necessarily familiar with but that are relevant for them. The game’s usability was improved with the participation of the target group, and the game is now ready for clinical testing. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Brynja Ingadottir Elina Laitonen Adalheidur Stefansdottir Anna Olafia Sigurdardottir Berglind Brynjolfsdottir Heidi Parisod Johanna Nyman Karitas Gunnarsdottir Katrín Jónsdóttir Sanna Salanterä Anni Pakarinen |
author_facet |
Brynja Ingadottir Elina Laitonen Adalheidur Stefansdottir Anna Olafia Sigurdardottir Berglind Brynjolfsdottir Heidi Parisod Johanna Nyman Karitas Gunnarsdottir Katrín Jónsdóttir Sanna Salanterä Anni Pakarinen |
author_sort |
Brynja Ingadottir |
title |
Developing a Health Game to Prepare Preschool Children for Anesthesia: Formative Study Using a Child-Centered Approach |
title_short |
Developing a Health Game to Prepare Preschool Children for Anesthesia: Formative Study Using a Child-Centered Approach |
title_full |
Developing a Health Game to Prepare Preschool Children for Anesthesia: Formative Study Using a Child-Centered Approach |
title_fullStr |
Developing a Health Game to Prepare Preschool Children for Anesthesia: Formative Study Using a Child-Centered Approach |
title_full_unstemmed |
Developing a Health Game to Prepare Preschool Children for Anesthesia: Formative Study Using a Child-Centered Approach |
title_sort |
developing a health game to prepare preschool children for anesthesia: formative study using a child-centered approach |
publisher |
JMIR Publications |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.2196/31471 https://doaj.org/article/527fdc8756574e0ba754e0a326377513 |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_source |
JMIR Serious Games, Vol 10, Iss 1, p e31471 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://games.jmir.org/2022/1/e31471 https://doaj.org/toc/2291-9279 2291-9279 doi:10.2196/31471 https://doaj.org/article/527fdc8756574e0ba754e0a326377513 |
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https://doi.org/10.2196/31471 |
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