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JMIR Publications, JMIR Serious Games, 2(4), p. e14

DOI: 10.2196/games.5943

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Gamifying self-management of chronic illnesses: a mixed-methods study

Journal article published in 2016 by Alaa Almarshedi ORCID, Gary Wills ORCID, Ashok Ranchhod ORCID
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

Background: Self-management of chronic illnesses is an ongoing issue in health care research. Gamification is a concept that arose in the field of computer science and has been borrowed by many other disciplines. It is perceived by many that gamification can improve the self-management experience of people with chronic illnesses. This paper discusses the validation of a framework (called The Wheel of Sukr) that was introduced to achieve this goal. Objective: This research aims to (1) discuss a gamification framework targeting the self-management of chronic illnesses and (2) validate the framework by diabetic patients, medical professionals, and game experts. Methods: A mixed-method approach was used to validate the framework. Expert interviews (N=8) were conducted in order to validate the themes of the framework. Additionally, diabetic participants completed a questionnaire (N=42) in order to measure their attitudes toward the themes of the framework. Results: The results provide a validation of the framework. This indicates that gamification might improve the self-management of chronic illnesses, such as diabetes. Namely, the eight themes in the Wheel of Sukr (fun, esteem, socializing, self-management, self-representation, motivation, growth, sustainability) were perceived positively by 71% (30/42) of the participants with P value