Interactive simulations to help teenagers cope when a parent has a traumatic brain injury

Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of long-term disability and death worldwide. This article describes an ongoing research project to design, develop, and evaluate interactive learning simulations that integrate educational materials for uninjured teenagers who have a parent with a TBI. By immersing players in an interactive environment that resembles the gaming world with which most teenagers are familiar, these simulations are designed to help players develop knowledge and skills in circumstances approximating real-life settings. We describe the steps we took, both to consult with families affected by TBI to understand the difficulties teenagers commonly face when they live with a brain-injured parent, and to weave some of these difficulties into a pedagogical drama that can be played as an interactive game.

Educational narrative games with choice

“…The Simula Family story has been initially developed in a text version [5]. This text version is still in use in our research lab as an authoring and testing device but the demo for end-users happens within a 3D environment.…”

Informational Practices of Postacute Brain Injury Patients During Personal Recovery: Qualitative Study

“…A limited amount of this work has been conducted directly with individuals with brain injury, identifying strategies for dealing with things such as impaired memory formation [ 41 ] or difficulty with scheduling and planning [ 36 , 42 ]. A wider body of literature explores broader domains such as cognitive impairment, which impact people living with many different disabilities and their care providers and families [ 43 , 44 ]. However, there has been little research in the health informatics or human-computer interaction communities on the role of interactive tools to not only measure but also support personal recovery.…”