Development and Evaluation of Digital Game-Based Training for Managers to Promote Employee Mental Health and Reduce Mental Illness Stigma at Work: Quasi-Experimental Study of Program Effectiveness

Hanisch, Sabine E.; Birner, Ulrich; Oberhauser, Cornelia; Nowak, Dennis; Sabariego, Carla

doi:10.2196/mental.7600

Cited by 37 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…Serious games are increasingly recommended as effective techniques to improve health education [23][24][25]. Multiple studies have assessed educational serious games in different fields of health, ranging from preventative screening to management of chronic diseases [9,[26][27][28].…”

Section: Principal Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health Education Serious Games Targeting Health Care Providers, Patients, and Public Health Users: Scoping Review

Sharifzadeh¹,

Kharrazi²,

Nazari³

et al. 2020

JMIR Serious Games

111

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Background Serious educational games have shown effectiveness in improving various health outcomes. Previous reviews of health education games have focused on specific diseases, certain medical subjects, fixed target groups, or limited outcomes of interest. Given the recent surge in health game studies, a scoping review of health education games is needed to provide an updated overview of various aspects of such serious games. Objective This study aimed to conduct a scoping review of the design and evaluation of serious educational games for health targeting health care providers, patients, and public (health) users. Methods We identified 2313 studies using a unique combination of keywords in the PubMed and ScienceDirect databases. A total of 161 studies were included in this review after removing duplicates (n=55) and excluding studies not meeting our inclusion criteria (1917 based on title and abstract and 180 after reviewing the full text). The results were stratified based on games targeting health care providers, patients, and public users. Results Most health education games were developed and evaluated in America (82/161, 50.9%) and Europe (64/161, 39.8%), with a considerable number of studies published after 2012. We discovered 58.4% (94/161) of studies aiming to improve knowledge learning and 41.6% (67/161) to enhance skill development. The studies targeted various categories of end users: health care providers (42/161, 26.1%), patients (38/161, 23.6%), public users (75/161, 46.6%), and a mix of users (6/161, 3.7%). Among games targeting patients, only 13% (6/44) targeted a specific disease, whereas a growing majority targeted lifestyle behaviors, social interactions, cognition, and generic health issues (eg, safety and nutrition). Among 101 studies reporting gameplay specifications, the most common gameplay duration was 30 to 45 min. Of the 61 studies reporting game repetition, only 14% (9/61) of the games allowed the users to play the game with unlimited repetitions. From 32 studies that measured follow-up duration after the game intervention, only 1 study reported a 2-year postintervention follow-up. More than 57.7% (93/161) of the games did not have a multidisciplinary team to design, develop, or assess the game. Conclusions Serious games are increasingly used for health education targeting a variety of end users. This study offers an updated scoping review of the studies assessing the value of serious games in improving health education. The results showed a promising trend in diversifying the application of health education games that go beyond a specific medical condition. However, our findings indicate the need for health education game development and adoption in developing countries and the need to focus on multidisciplinary teamwork in designing effective health education games. Furthermore, future health games should expand the duration and repetition of games and increase the length of the follow-up assessments to provide evidence on long-term effectiveness.

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Section: Principal Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health Education Serious Games Targeting Health Care Providers, Patients, and Public Health Users: Scoping Review

Sharifzadeh¹,

Kharrazi²,

Nazari³

et al. 2020

JMIR Serious Games

111

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“…Several studies suggest that anti-stigma interventions designed for the workplace may be very effective in bringing about a positive change in the knowledge, attitudes and supportive behavior of workers towards people with mental health disorders, possibly due to the high participation and intensity with which the information is delivered (Hanisch et al, 2016). Anti-stigma interventions implemented in the workplace that have proven effective include role play, on-line training, workshops, psycho-education, trauma risk management, crisis intervention training (Hanisch et al, 2016), and training based on digital games for managers (Hanisch, Birner, Oberhauser, Nowak, & Sabariego, 2017), among others. In this respect, several authors agree on the importance of focusing anti-stigma programs on specific population groups in which particular social and organizational factors are incorporated to obtain better results (Hanisch et al, 2017;Stuart, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Anti-stigma interventions implemented in the workplace that have proven effective include role play, on-line training, workshops, psycho-education, trauma risk management, crisis intervention training (Hanisch et al, 2016), and training based on digital games for managers (Hanisch, Birner, Oberhauser, Nowak, & Sabariego, 2017), among others. In this respect, several authors agree on the importance of focusing anti-stigma programs on specific population groups in which particular social and organizational factors are incorporated to obtain better results (Hanisch et al, 2017;Stuart, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stigma towards people with mental disorders: perceptions of devaluation and discrimination in a sample of Chilean workers

et al. 2019

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Introduction. Mental disorders represent one of the main causes of disease burden in the adult population. Negative public attitudes and behaviors toward people with mental disorders negatively affect the treatment, recovery, and social inclusion of those affected. Chile laks surveys on workers that address this issue. Objective. To describe the perceptions of devaluation and discrimination towards people with mental disorders in a sample of Chilean workers. Method. A cross-sectional study was carried out with 1 516 workers in the formal sector of four regions of Chile (Metropolitan Region [RM], Bío Bio [VIII], Valparaíso [V] and Coquimbo [IV]). The perception of discrimination and devaluation was explored through a modified version of the The perceived Devaluation-Discrimination Scale (PDD) comprising 15 questions. The relationship of each question with sociodemographic variables (age, sex, years of study, and region) and type of economic activity was assessed. Results. The study found a high percentage of perceptions of devaluation and discrimination in most aspects considered, particularly those related to hiring a person who has been hospitalized due to a mental illness (85%), feeling sorry for people with severe mental illnesses (80%), and the unwillingness to marry a person with a mental illness (78%). Significant differences were observed in the opinions by sociodemographic variables and region of residence. Discussion and conclusion. The perception of Chilean workers has high levels of stigma towards people living with mental disorders. It is necessary and urgent to develop effective anti-stigma public policies to promote a more inclusive, tolerant society.

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“…Cangas et al [ 43 ] suggest that contact with those experiencing a mental illness may be the missing element. Researchers tested a serious game to provide training for responding to MH concerns in the workplace [ 45 ]. Hanisch et al [ 45 ] reported that management staff who played the game had improved knowledge about MH.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Designing a Serious Game (Above Water) for Stigma Reduction Surrounding Mental Health: Semistructured Interview Study With Expert Participants

Wehbe¹,

Whaley²,

Eskandari³

et al. 2022

JMIR Serious Games

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Background Although in many contexts unsuccessful games targeting learning, social interaction, or behavioral change have few downsides, when covering a sensitive domain such as mental health (MH), care must be taken to avoid harm and stigmatization of people who live with MH conditions. As a result, evaluation of the game to identify benefits and risks is crucial in understanding the game’s success; however, assessment of these apps is often compared with the nongame control condition, resulting in findings specifically regarding entertainment value and user preferences. Research exploring the design process, integrating field experts, and guidelines for designing a successful serious game for sensitive topics is limited. Objective The aim of this study is to understand which elements of game design can guide a designer when designing a game for sensitive topics. Methods To carefully probe the design space of serious games for MH, we present Above Water (AbW), a game targeting the reduction of stigma surrounding MH, now in its second iteration. The game, AbW, serves as a consistent research probe to solicit expert feedback. Experts were recruited from a range of topic domains related to MH and wellness, game design, and user experience. Results By using this deployment as a research probe, this study demonstrates how to synthesize gained insights from multiple expert perspectives and create actionable guidelines for successful design of serious games targeting sensitive topics. Conclusions Our work contributes to a better understanding of how to design specialized games to address sensitive topics. We present a set of guidelines for designing games for sensitive subjects, and for each guideline, we present an example of how to apply the finding to the sample game (AbW). Furthermore, we demonstrate the generalizability to other sensitive topics by providing an additional example of a game that could be designed with the presented guidelines.

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Development and Evaluation of Digital Game-Based Training for Managers to Promote Employee Mental Health and Reduce Mental Illness Stigma at Work: Quasi-Experimental Study of Program Effectiveness

Cited by 37 publications

References 63 publications

Health Education Serious Games Targeting Health Care Providers, Patients, and Public Health Users: Scoping Review

Health Education Serious Games Targeting Health Care Providers, Patients, and Public Health Users: Scoping Review

Stigma towards people with mental disorders: perceptions of devaluation and discrimination in a sample of Chilean workers

Designing a Serious Game (Above Water) for Stigma Reduction Surrounding Mental Health: Semistructured Interview Study With Expert Participants

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