JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to an increased use of personal protective equipment (PPE). Adequate use of such equipment is more critical than ever as the risk of shortages must be balanced against the need of effectively protecting healthcare workers, including prehospital personnel. Specific training is therefore necessary, but the need for social distancing has markedly disrupted the way by which continuous education courses are delivered. Electronic learning (e-learning) might provide significant advantages as it requires neither the presence of learners nor the repetitive use of equipment for demonstration.

Objective:

Inclusion of game mechanics, or "gamification", has been shown to increase knowledge and skill acquisition. The objective of this research was to develop a gamified e-learning module to interactively deliver concepts and information regarding the correct choice and handling of PPE.

Methods:

The SERES framework was used to define and describe the development process, including scientific and design foundations. After having defined the target audience and learning objectives by interviewing the stakeholders, the scientific literature was searched to establish relevant theoretical bases. The learning contents were validated by infection control and prehospital experts. Learning mechanics were then determined according to the learning objectives, and the contents that could benefit from the inclusion of game mechanics were identified.

Results:

The literature search resulted in the selection and inclusion of 12 articles. In addition to gamification, pretesting, feedback, avoiding content skipping, and demonstration by use of embedded videos were used as learning mechanics. Gamification was used to enhance the interactivity of the PPE donning and doffing sequences, which presented the greatest learning challenge. The module was developed under Articulate Storyline 3 in order to ensure the module would be compatible with a wide array of devices, as this software generates an HTML5 compatible output which can therefore be accessed on smartphones, tablets, and regular computers as long as a recent navigator is available.

Conclusions:

A gamified e-learning module designed to promote better knowledge and understanding of PPE use among prehospital healthcare workers was achieved following the SERES framework. The impact of this module should now be assessed by means of a randomized, controlled trial.