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Impact of game play on dementia knowledge: A student evaluation of the Dementia Inequalities Game

Tracks
Federation Ballroom / Plenary
Dementia
Design
Implementation
Innovation
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
12:00 PM - 12:15 PM

Speaker

Dr Clarissa Giebel
Senior Research Fellow
University Of Liverpool

Impact of game play on dementia knowledge: A student evaluation of the Dementia Inequalities Game

Abstract

Background: A lack of knowledge about dementia in the health and social care workforce is a recognised barrier to accessing a diagnosis and care. The Dementia Inequalities Game was co-produced with people with personal, professional, and voluntary sector experiences of dementia, and is an educational tool to educate about dementia and associated inequalities and overcome this knowledge gap in the current and future workforce. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of playing the co-produced Dementia Inequalities Game on knowledge about dementia and inequalities in health care and allied health professional students.

Methods: We conducted game play workshops as part of regular teaching in undergraduate and postgraduate courses in psychology, nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, orthoptics, and radiography at one University in the North of England. Data collection commenced in November 2023. Students did not have to partake in the teaching session. Participating students completed a brief before and after knowledge questionnaire about dementia and inequalities. Data were analysed using paired samples t-tests in SPSS.

Findings: Whilst the study is still ongoing, 243 students took part in the game play workshops to date, with 238 providing complete data. Playing the board game resulted in significant improvements in knowledge about dementia (p<.001) and dementia inequalities (p<.001).

Conclusion: The Dementia Inequalities Game proves to be an effective tool to educate students in health care and allied health care about the topic area. Next steps will include to test the game and its impact in the health, and social care, workforce.

Biography

Dr Clarissa Giebel is Senior Research Fellow in the Institute of Population Health at the University of Liverpool, and Older Adult Subtheme Lead at the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration North West Coast. She is leading the Institute's Dementia Research Group and is a NIHR School for Social Care Leadership Fellow. Dr Giebel is leading national and international research on inequalities in dementia, and is the Lead of the European INTERDEM Taskforce Inequalities in Dementia. In 2019, she set up the successful and growing public-facing Liverpool Dementia & Ageing Research Forum, which enables knowledge and networking on dementia for different stakeholder groups. She is also the host of The Ageing Scientist podcast, and has jointly with her group co-produced and launched the Dementia Inequalities Game - an educational game to learn about dementia inequalities. She has published over 110 papers, including three policy briefings, in the field. She leads the 5-year ESRC Dementia Network Plus on Dementia Inequalities (2024-2029), and is the Principal Investigator on a number of dementia and health inequalities projects, including funded studies by the ESRC Newton Fund (Understanding the impact of political and stressful life events on the mental health of older Colombians); Alzheimer's Society (health inequalities in dementia care in the UK and the Netherlands); NIHR (Unmet mental health needs in paid and unpaid carers); and the ODA Seedfund (exploring the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions on the mental health of older adults in Uganda, Colombia, and India), and Co-I on the new NIHR Dementia & Neurodegeneration Policy Research Unit led by QMUL and Exeter.

Session Chair

Joanna Sun
Lecturer
University of Tasmania

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