JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Children with cancer who have to undergo radiotherapy can experience fear since it is a treatment of which they have no prior knowledge. To be able to prepare children through an educational web game about the procedure could be one way of teaching them about the treatment and reducing their fear. Involvement of the end user in the design process within medicine is a way of ensuring that the product being developed will fit the intended user.

Objective:

The aim was to outline the contributions made by children and their parents during the explorative process of designing an educational web game about radiotherapy to show the significance of including the end user in the developmental work.

Methods:

By means of Participatory Action Research, children and their parents participated in the development of an educational web game about radiotherapy. Nine children (7-10 years old) with an accompanying parent were included. A qualitative approach was used by means of interview and participant observation. Six sets of sessions were performed with the children and their parents during the iterative process. The sessions were held either face to face or online. Each session resulted in a list of suggestions for changes to the game. A thematic analysis was performed based on the list to highlight how the children’s participation changed the game.

Results:

Two main themes were identified. The first theme was named: Treatment and Health Influ-enced the Participation and included the sub-themes; Sharing of emotions and perceptions of radiotherapy and The illness affects the ability to participate. The second theme was: Being an Active Part of the Game Design Process and included the sub-themes; Sentiments ex-pressed about the game, How to construct a playable game, and The necessity of understand-ing the text.

Conclusions:

Children’s contribution through Participatory Action Research promoted valuable changes which resulted in a comprehensible and functional game about radiotherapy. To involve children in the developmental process even though they have a disease is ethically reasonable since they are the intended users of the product produced. The children’s illness affected their possibility to take part, it is thus crucial to accommodate for the children’s needs when conducting similar studies. The parents’ participation facilitated the sessions for their children whilst their involvement in the game design was negligible. Clinical Trial: Non appropriate