Page 85 - KNJIGA SAŽETAKA

INOVACIJE I IZAZOVI U OBRAZOVANJU I SESTRINSKOJ SKRBI - KNJIGA SAŽETAKA

Gamification – a New Model of Education of Pediatric

Patients with Chronic Non-communicable Diseases

Education and self-management are critical components of treating chronic non-communicable
diseases, and they are commonly cited as significant success factors. Through creative learning
methodologies and competition strategies, modern educational ideas promote increased patient
engagement. Gamification is a technique that uses game design principles and mechanics to
engage and motivate children to achieve their goals related to their health conditions and is an
increasingly popular strategy. Gamification-enhanced platforms can be an excellent tool for
educating children about their chronic diseases and supporting them in managing them more
successfully.

The pilot experiment was conducted in the clinic for pediatrics at the Sestre milosrdnice
University Hospital Center in Zagreb. It was created as a quiz-style web application that utilizes
gamification to educate children about their chronic diseases. The quiz is personalized to the
individual with a chronic disease and includes 10 questions concerning the causes, symptoms,
treatment, and self-management of the disease, as well as two questions about patient
satisfaction and improvement suggestions. The quiz has fun aspects to encourage children to
complete it and enhance their health knowledge and adherence. Children earn points for each
correct answer and a badge for successfully completing the quiz. Patients aged 10 to 13 were
enrolled in the experiment, with a 10 for each medical condition: asthma, diabetes mellitus, and
epilepsy. Patients were educated about their diseases by nurses prior to the assessment.

The results of this pilot project demonstrate that gamified online applications are a useful and
effective tool for educating, engaging, and inspiring children about managing chronic diseases
such as asthma, diabetes, and epilepsy.

Key words: non-chronical disease, children, education, gamification

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