Developmental Evaluation of a Serious Game for Intersectoral Collaboration for Health in Primary and Community Care: an Intervention Mapping Approach (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Person-centered, collaborative and preventive care involving primary care providers and community care providers is considered essential in response to increasingly complex care needs. The implementation of such care, summarised as ‘intersectoral collaboration for health,’ is hindered by limited knowledge of other disciplines, fragmented communication, and unclear expectations. Although education plays an important role in equipping care providers with the necessary knowledge, skills, and values required for intersectoral collaboration for health, intersectoral approaches in education for primary care providers and community care providers remain scarce. Informal forms of education such as serious gaming hold promise to not only improve knowledge and skills, but also stimulate interaction and collaboration. Serious gaming could thus provide a suitable educational format to support intersectoral collaboration for health by simultaneously educating and connecting primary care providers and community care providers. OBJECTIVE This study describes the systematic and iterative development of Game2Connect, a serious game designed to support primary care providers and community care providers in implementing intersectoral collaboration for health through the framework of Positive Health. METHODS Game2Connect was developed using a combination of Intervention Mapping and Developmental Evaluation. First, a needs assessment was conducted through interviews with six care recipients and eighteen primary care providers and community care providers. Then, behavioural outcomes for the serious game were formulated. Next, a game concept was drafted in collaboration with 25 representatives from educational institutions, health organisations and serious game developers, and a prototype was created. Finally, the prototype was iteratively refined through nine pilot sessions with 57 primary care providers and community care providers and 22 other professionals based on observations and user experiences. RESULTS The final version of Game2Connect consists of two facilitated serious gaming sessions that incorporate video cases, theoretical questions, practical challenges, peer feedback, and goal setting in a team-based board game. Iterative refinements resulted in improvements to game design (e.g. a tailored game board and game cards with scannable QR-codes so that questions can be continuously adapted), content (e.g. clearer and more diverse cases and questions), and user experience (e.g. a simplified goal setting assignment). Participants across pilot sessions reported positive experiences, describing the game as engaging, relevant, and insightful. Interactions between disciplines and subsequent insights into each others’ perspectives were identified as key strengths in support of intersectoral collaboration for health. CONCLUSIONS This study shows how the combination of Intervention Mapping and Developmental Evaluation contributed to the development of education that is both scientifically sound and contextually fitting. Furthermore, it highlights the potential for serious gaming as an engaging and interactive educational approach for care professionals. Future research is needed to evaluate the impact of Game2Connect on behaviour and collaboration in practice, and to explore its implementation in more diverse settings.