Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Serious Games
Date Submitted: May 11, 2022
Date Accepted: Nov 30, 2022
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Health Promotion in Popular Online Community Games among Young People: Proposals, Recommendations and Applications
ABSTRACT
Background:
Young people use digital technology on a daily basis and enjoy online games that promote social interactions between peers. These interactions in online communities develop social knowledge and life skills. Intervening via existing online community games could represent an innovative opportunity for health promotion interventions.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to collect and describe players’ proposals for delivering health promotion through existing online community games among young people; elaborate related recommendations adapted from a concrete experience of research; and describe the application of these recommendations during new interventions.
Methods:
We implemented a prevention intervention via an online community game (Habbo). During an intervention session, we asked 22 young participants for their recommendations about the best ways to carry out a health intervention in this context. First, using verbatim transcriptions of players’ opinions, we conducted a qualitative thematic analysis. Second, we elaborated recommendations for action development and implementation, based on our experiences and on work with a multidisciplinary consortium of experts. Third, we applied these recommendations for new interventions and described their application.
Results:
Thematic analysis of participants' proposals revealed 3 main themes and 14 sub-themes related to players’ proposals and process elements: i) the conditions for developing an attractive intervention within the game, ii) the value of involving peers in developing the intervention, iii) the ways to mobilize and monitor gamers’ participation. These proposals emphasized the importance of interventions involving and moderating a small group of players in a playful way but with professional aspects. We established 16 domains with 27 recommendations for preparing and implementing an intervention in online games, by adopting the codes of the game culture. The application of the recommendations has shown their usefulness and that it was possible to make adapted and diverse interventions.
Conclusions:
Integrated health promotion interventions in existing online community games have potential for promoting the health and well-being of young people. There is a need to integrate specific key aspects of the games and gaming community recommendations, from conception to implementation, in order to maximize the relevance, acceptability and feasibility of interventions integrated in current digital practices. Clinical Trial: ClinicalTrials.gov: identifier NCT04888208
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