The Value of Children's Voices for a Video Game Development in the Context of Type 1 Diabetes: Focus Group Study

BACKGROUND: Children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) face daily challenges performing self-care tasks, controlling symptoms, and dealing with psychosocial issues. The use of video games to improve health is a successful support for persons with chronic diseases, promoting adequate self-management through simulations of real life. Involving future users in the development of games is essential to generating innovative, creative, and effective programs. OBJECTIVE: Our goal is to identify what children with T1DM need to know about their disease and their self-care tasks as well as their preferences in video games. METHODS: Children with T1DM provided input about their learning needs, self-care tasks, and preferences in video games. Three categories were identified through qualitative content analysis: dealing with emotions and knowledge, practical skills and awareness, and game preferences. RESULTS: Children expressed concerns about the difficulties of self-care, lack of knowledge about diabetes, and lack of awareness about the consequences of behaviors related to self-care, which contribute to inappropriate behaviors and significantly impact self-management of their disease. They expressed enthusiasm for a video game for children with diabetes that considered their needs and preferences. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support the potential benefits when children’s input is considered in game design. Consideration of customer needs and preferences is a powerful resource in the development of video games with enhanced learning experience.