The design and development of a serious game intervention to engage service users who experience psychosis and staff who work with them in activities that promote recovery
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End of Embargo
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The University of Bradford theses are licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.
Peer-Reviewed
Open Access status
Accepted for publication
Institution
University of Bradford
Department
School of Allied Health Professions and Midwifery. Faculty of Health Studies
Awarded
2023
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Abstract
Background: For those who experience serious mental illness (SMI), there is a poor fit between treatment provided and the meeting of service user need. Alternative explanations of mental illness and the recovery agenda have changed the way SMI is understood and treated. Serious games, by creating an entertaining and educational experience, have shown promise in the promotion of pro-health behaviours. By applying a research-through-design approach, this thesis will seek to create intermediate-level knowledge that is generative to the future design and development of serious games for the promotion of treatment for people who experience SMI.
Method: Service Users who experience SMI and Staff who work with them were engaged in separate focus groups (N=43) and joint design workshops (N=22) to co-design and co-develop a serious game intervention. At each stage, design insights contemporaneous to that stage were identified and successively refined.
Findings: The following five generalisable design insights of (1). Collaboration is possible with autonomy; (2). Engagement in learning content is best achieved via practical, applied, problem-based learning of psychosocial skills; (3). Learning is best achieved via discrete, repeatable, and measurable gameplay activities; (4). Collaboration and competition are compatible, and (5). Heuristics can inform the development of game concepts, were identified.
Conclusion: The use of serious games to engage people who experience SMI in treatment is possible. However, to ensure engagement, designers need to create an entertaining and educational experience. This thesis provides the intermediate-level knowledge required for the designer to achieve this.
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Type
Thesis
Qualification name
PhD