Developing a Health Game to Prepare Preschool Children for Anesthesia : Formative Study Using a Child-Centered Approach

• Published in: JMIR Serious Games
• Main Authors: Ingadóttir, Brynja, Laitonen, Elina, Stefansdottir, Adalheidur, Sigurðardóttir, Anna Ólafía, Brynjólfsdóttir, Berglind, Parisod, Heidi, Nyman, Johanna, Gunnarsdóttir, Karitas, Jónsdóttir, Katrín, Salanterä, Sanna, Pakarinen, Anni
• Other Authors: Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Nursing, Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Barnahjúkrun; Hjúkrun aðgerðasjúklinga; Sálfræði; Börn; Skurðlækningar; Deyfingar; Anesthesia; Child-centred design; Children; Digital health; Educational games; Health games; Hospital; Patient education; Serious games; Surgery; User-centred design; Video games; Physical Therapy; Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation; Rehabilitation; Psychiatry and Mental Health; Biomedical Engineering; Sanna; Iceland
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/4467; https://doi.org/10.2196/31471

Funding Information: The authors acknowledge generous funding from the Icelandic Technology Development Fund; the Children’s Welfare Fund; SUMARGJÖF - the Friends of Children Society; and the Remembrance Fund of the Icelandic Landspitali Hospital, Iceland. Publisher Copyright: © Brynja Ingadottir, Elina Laitonen, Adalheidur Stefansdottir, Anna Olafia Sigurdardottir, Berglind Brynjolfsdottir, Heidi Parisod, Johanna Nyman, Karitas Gunnarsdottir, Katrín Jónsdóttir, Sanna Salanterä, Anni Pakarinen. ©Brynja Ingadottir, Elina Laitonen, Adalheidur Stefansdottir, Anna Olafia Sigurdardottir, Berglind Brynjolfsdottir, Heidi Parisod, Johanna Nyman, Karitas Gunnarsdottir, Katrín Jónsdóttir, Sanna Salanterä, Anni Pakarinen. Originally published in JMIR Serious Games (https://games.jmir.org), 20.01.2022. Background: Every 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. Objective: One 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. Methods: A 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 ...