Desenvolvimento e testagem de gerontecnologia educacional do tipo jogo de tabuleiro para prevenção de quedas em idosos

Abstract

The objective was to develop and test educational gerontechnology of the board game type to prevent falls in the elderly. Exploratory, descriptive study carried out in four stages: (I) Approaching the theme through an integrative review and studies on falls and games; (II) development of gerontechnology according to the elements of game design (narrative, mechanics, aesthetics and technology) and use of the components individual experiences, feelings and knowledge about the specific behavior and expected result of Nola Pender's Health Promotion Model; (III) Evaluation by specialists; (IV) Testing with target audience. Data analysis was performed by measuring the proportion of agreement between specialists and the elderly considering an Agreement Index (CI) greater than 80%. The research was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Ceará, opinion No. 3,921,131. The approach to the theme enabled the development of Prototype 1. In this, the elements of game design were incorporated, the narrative was based on the health promotion model comprising individual aspects, benefits and barriers in the adoption of behavior to prevent falls. In mechanics, objectives and rules were outlined, we opted for a cooperative game, from one to seven players, in which the board represents the rooms of a house with risks of falling. Seven illustrative cards were constructed, a roulette with seven items, in which each item corresponds to a room and 17 written letters involving the components of the health promotion model. After identifying the risks, the player points out the safe ways to prevent falls, using the illustrative cards. Aesthetics included layout and illustrations. The technology involved: board (55 x 66 cm), letters written in a safe and risky way about falls (10 x 8 cm), pin (5 x 7 cm), roulette (13 x 15 cm) and instruction manual, constituting Prototype 2. This was evaluated by 36 specialists, 18 (50%) nurses, 13 (36.11%) physiotherapists, two (5.55%) occupational therapists and physical educators and one (2.77%) engineer from computing. The CI was 93.22%. The experts suggested changes, such as: top view of the board, floor, addition of a rocking chair, ladder, tools, waste basket and clothesline, resulting in Prototype 3. This was tested with 31 elderly women from the community in a community center, with mean age of 74.74 years. The CI was 99%. The suggestions of the elderly women were: to change the image of a shoe for sandals and to improve the illustrations of the fan and lampshade, resulting in the final version, called Prev’Quedas. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the game was not tested with a maximum number of players and only women came for the test. It is noteworthy that the use of game design, applied in a pioneering way in the field of nursing, associated with the theoretical model enabled the development of an innovative gerontechnology for the prevention of falls, which can generate important impacts in reducing this problem when used as an educational tool in health and with the potential to become a virtual game. It is suggested, intervention studies with elderly people of both sexes, maximum number of participants and in different scenarios.