Game jams for cultural safety training in Colombian medical education: a pilot randomised controlled trial

OBJECTIVES: Explore the acceptability and feasibility of a randomised controlled trial (RCT) to assess game jams—participatory events to cocreate digital or board games in a time-constrained environment—in cultural safety training of medical students. The pilot tests methods and procedures and explores the validity and reliability of our research instrument. DESIGN: Two-arm parallel-group pilot RCT with a 1:1 allocation ratio. SETTING: Faculty of Medicine in Chia, Colombia. PARTICIPANTS: 79 final-year medical students completed the baseline questionnaire. 64 completed the assessment immediately after the intervention: 31 in the intervention group (20 female) and 33 in the control group (18 female). 35 completed the final assessment (18 control and 17 intervention) 4 months after the intervention. INTERVENTIONS: The intervention group joined a 5-hour game jam composed of a 1-hour lecture and a 4-hour session to create and to play educational games about cultural safety. The control group had a 1-hour conventional lesson, followed by a 4-hour study session of selected readings on cultural safety. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The instrument, an online self-administered Likert-type questionnaire, assessed a self-reported cultural safety results chain based on a planned behaviour theory. Student recruitment, retention and perception of the activity determined acceptability. The methodological and logistical factors for a full-scale study determined feasibility. RESULTS: After the intervention, students randomised to that arm reported a slightly higher cultural safety score (26.9) than those in the control group (25.9) (difference −1, 95% CI −3.0 to 1.0). Students described game jam learning in favourable terms and considered cultural safety training relevant. The university authorised the conduct of the full-scale trial. CONCLUSION: Game jam learning is feasible and acceptable for cultural safety training of Colombian medical students. Researchers and educators may find our results informative in the design of RCTs assessing educational interventions. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN14261595 (stage: pilot study results)