A Serious Game Designed to Promote Safe Behaviors Among Health Care Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Development of "Escape COVID-19"

Mélanie Suppan; Gaud Catho; Tomás Robalo Nunes; Valérie Sauvan; Monique Perez; Christophe Graf; Didier Pittet; Stephan Harbarth; Mohamed Abbas; Laurent Suppan

doi:10.2196/24986

A Serious Game Designed to Promote Safe Behaviors Among Health Care Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Development of "Escape COVID-19"

JMIR Serious Games. 2020 Dec 3;8(4):e24986. doi: 10.2196/24986.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Division of Anesthesiology, Department of Anesthesiology, Clinical Pharmacology, Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine, University of Geneva Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland.
² Infection Control Program, WHO Collaborating Centre on Patient Safety, University of Geneva Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland.
³ Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital Garcia de Orta, EPE, Almada, Portugal.
⁴ Department of Rehabilitation and Geriatrics, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁵ Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Clinical Pharmacology, Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine, University of Geneva Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland.

PMID: 33242312
PMCID: PMC7717924
DOI: 10.2196/24986

Abstract

Background: As many countries fear and even experience the emergence of a second wave of COVID-19, reminding health care workers (HCWs) and other hospital employees of the critical role they play in preventing SARS-CoV-2 transmission is more important than ever. Building and strengthening the intrinsic motivation of HCWs to apply infection prevention and control (IPC) guidelines to avoid contaminating their colleagues, patients, friends, and relatives is a goal that must be energetically pursued. A high rate of nosocomial infections during the first COVID-19 wave was detected by IPC specialists and further cemented their belief in the need for an engaging intervention that could improve compliance with COVID-19 safe behaviors.

Objective: Our aim was to develop a serious game that would promote IPC practices with a specific focus on COVID-19 among HCWs and other hospital employees.

Methods: The first 3 stages of the SERES framework were used to develop this serious game. A brainswarming session between developers and IPC specialists was used to identify the target audience and acquisition objectives. Nicholson's RECIPE mnemonic (reflection, engagement, choice, information, play, exposition) for meaningful gamification was used to guide the general design. A common and simple terminology was used to suit the broad target audience. The game was tested on various platforms (smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktop computers) by different users during each development loop and before its final release.

Results: The game was designed to target all hospital staff who could be in direct contact with patients within the Geneva University Hospitals. In total, 10 acquisition objectives were defined by IPC specialists and implemented into the game according to the principles of meaningful gamification. A simple storyboard was first created using Microsoft PowerPoint and was progressively refined through multiple iteration loops. Articulate Storyline was then used to create two successive versions of the actual game. In the final version, a unique graphic atmosphere was created with help from a professional graphic designer. Feedback mechanisms were used extensively throughout the game to strengthen key IPC messages.

Conclusions: The SERES framework was successfully used to create "Escape COVID-19," a serious game designed to promote safe IPC practices among HCWs and other hospital employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. This game can be obtained free of charge for research and educational purposes. A SCORM (shareable content object reference model) package is available to facilitate results and completion tracking on most current learning management systems.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-COV-2; behavior; health care workers; hospital; infection prevention; infectious disease; safety; serious games; transmission.

©Mélanie Suppan, Gaud Catho, Tomás Robalo Nunes, Valérie Sauvan, Monique Perez, Christophe Graf, Didier Pittet, Stephan Harbarth, Mohamed Abbas, Laurent Suppan. Originally published in JMIR Serious Games (http://games.jmir.org), 03.12.2020.