Gamification for the self-management of chronic illnesses

Abstract

The use of gamification in healthcare has been receiving a great deal of attention in both academic research and industry, but there are yet to be frameworks and guidelines for its implementation. This thesis focuses on the use of gamification in the self-management of chronic illnesses, in particular, diabetes. The thesis presents a novel framework and a set of guidelines for developers to implement gamification in this area.

The framework, called The Wheel of Sukr, combines elements from self-management practices, game elements, and behaviour change methods. It consists of 28 elements grouped under 8 themes. The framework has been validated using a mixed-method approach by conducting interviews with experts from the fields of medicine, psychology, games, and gamification. Moreover, a questionnaire was completed by individuals with diabetes in order to measure their attitudes towards the themes of the framework. This study indicated an overall acceptance of the notion of gamification in the self-management of diabetes.

After validation, a set of guidelines based on the framework was introduced. The guidelines were validated using a multi-method approach where expert interviews and focus group sessions were conducted. The guidelines received support from the experts, who agreed that they accurately reflect the framework and that developers can potentially use them to create gamified self-management apps for chronic illnesses. Moreover, developers who participated in the focus group sessions welcomed the guidelines. They found them to be clear, useful, and implementable. Furthermore, they were able to suggest several ways of gamifying a non-gamified self-management app when they were presented with one. The findings suggest that the guidelines introduced in this research are clear, useful, and ready to be implemented for the creation of self-management apps that use the notion of gamification as described in the Wheel of Sukr framework.

More information

Identifiers

ORCID for Alaa Abdullah Almarshedi: orcid.org/0000-0001-9645-1014

ORCID for Gary Wills: orcid.org/0000-0001-5771-4088

Catalogue record

Export record