InSpire to Play (Promote Lung Assessment in Youth): Evolving the Self-Management Paradigms of Young People with Asthma
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Abstract
Background
Asthma is the most common chronic disease in childhood, disproportionately affecting urban, minority, and disadvantaged children. Individualized care plans supported by daily lung-function monitoring can reduce morbidity and mortality. However, despite 20 years of interventions to increase adherence, barely 50% of U.S. youth accurately follow their care plans, which leads to millions of preventable hospitalizations, emergency room visits, and sick days every year. We present a feasibility study of a novel, user-centered approach to increasing young people’s lung-function monitoring and asthma self-care. PLAY (Promoting Lung Assessment in Youth) helps young people become active managers of their asthma through the Web 2.0 principles of participation, co-creation, and information sharing. Specifically, PLAY combines an inexpensive, portable spirometer with the motivational power and convenience of mobile phones and virtual-community gaming.
The objective is to develop and pilot test PLAY, a fully functional interface between a handheld spirometer and an interactive game and individualized asthma-care instant-messaging system housed on a mobile phone.
Methods
PLAY is an application for PC and mobile phones that creates a compelling world in which youth collaborate with their physicians on managing their asthma. Drawing from design-theory on global timer mechanics and role playing, we incentivize completing spirometry maneuvers by making them an engaging part of a game young people want to play. The data can be sent wirelessly to health specialists and return care recommendations to patients in real-time. By making it portable and similar to applications normally desired, PLAY is able to seamlessly incorporate asthma management into their lifestyle.
Results
A pilot study of PLAY assessed likability of the GUI as well as young people’s interest in our incentivizing system. Nearly 100% of children surveyed said they would play games like those in PLAY if they involved breathing into a spirometer. Two-thirds said they would prefer PLAY over the spirometer alone, whereas one-third would prefer having both. No children said they would prefer the spirometer over PLAY. Conclusions
Previous efforts at home-monitoring of asthma in children have experienced rapid decline in adherence. An inexpensive monitoring technology combined with the computation, interactive communication, and display ability of a mobile-phone is a promising approach to sustainable adherence to lung-function monitoring and care plans. An exciting game that redefines the way youth conduct health management by inviting them to collaborate in their health better incentivizes and can be a catalyst for farther-reaching goals.
Asthma is the most common chronic disease in childhood, disproportionately affecting urban, minority, and disadvantaged children. Individualized care plans supported by daily lung-function monitoring can reduce morbidity and mortality. However, despite 20 years of interventions to increase adherence, barely 50% of U.S. youth accurately follow their care plans, which leads to millions of preventable hospitalizations, emergency room visits, and sick days every year. We present a feasibility study of a novel, user-centered approach to increasing young people’s lung-function monitoring and asthma self-care. PLAY (Promoting Lung Assessment in Youth) helps young people become active managers of their asthma through the Web 2.0 principles of participation, co-creation, and information sharing. Specifically, PLAY combines an inexpensive, portable spirometer with the motivational power and convenience of mobile phones and virtual-community gaming.
The objective is to develop and pilot test PLAY, a fully functional interface between a handheld spirometer and an interactive game and individualized asthma-care instant-messaging system housed on a mobile phone.
Methods
PLAY is an application for PC and mobile phones that creates a compelling world in which youth collaborate with their physicians on managing their asthma. Drawing from design-theory on global timer mechanics and role playing, we incentivize completing spirometry maneuvers by making them an engaging part of a game young people want to play. The data can be sent wirelessly to health specialists and return care recommendations to patients in real-time. By making it portable and similar to applications normally desired, PLAY is able to seamlessly incorporate asthma management into their lifestyle.
Results
A pilot study of PLAY assessed likability of the GUI as well as young people’s interest in our incentivizing system. Nearly 100% of children surveyed said they would play games like those in PLAY if they involved breathing into a spirometer. Two-thirds said they would prefer PLAY over the spirometer alone, whereas one-third would prefer having both. No children said they would prefer the spirometer over PLAY. Conclusions
Previous efforts at home-monitoring of asthma in children have experienced rapid decline in adherence. An inexpensive monitoring technology combined with the computation, interactive communication, and display ability of a mobile-phone is a promising approach to sustainable adherence to lung-function monitoring and care plans. An exciting game that redefines the way youth conduct health management by inviting them to collaborate in their health better incentivizes and can be a catalyst for farther-reaching goals.
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