SafeHome: A Serious Game to Promote Safe Environments for Persons Living with Dementia.

Lora Appel,Don Sinclair,Eva Peisachovich,Celina Da Silva,Regina Jokel

doi:10.7759/cureus.6949

Abstract

The dementia epidemic continues to affect families across Canada. The number of persons living with dementia (PLWD) is projected to reach 1.1 million over the next 20 years, placing further financial and resource constraints on the Canadian healthcare system. Caregiver education is vital in ensuring the quality of life and safety for PLWD and can increase the time they are able to live at home, which is correlated with positive outcomes for both PLWD and their caregivers, and a reduction in system costs. However, current educational support often requires individuals to travel to local, urban service care centers and educational content is often provided in English, which can exacerbate the difficulties faced by marginalized caregivers (e.g., immigrants and those living in rural settings) who are caring for PLWD. To address this issue, a team of researchers developed a serious game called “SafeHome” that teaches safety strategies by having players identify and rectify potential hazards in the home setting that may negatively impact on PLWD outcomes, such as falls. A usability study was conducted using an adapted, validated questionnaire and semi-structured focus groups to better understand users’ experience and obtain suggestions for the SafeHome serious game improvement. Results indicated that 80% of the participants were satisfied with the activities provided through SafeHome. All participants (n = 13) made recommendations for improving the usability, functionality, and comprehensiveness of the educational content. This feedback will inform future iterations of SafeHome and add valuable contributions to the growing literature on innovative e-learning resources that support PLWD and their caregivers.

Highlights

The rising prevalence of dementia in Canada correlates with the disease’s emergence as a leading healthcare challenge worldwide [1,2]
Caregiver education is vital in ensuring the quality of life and safety for persons living with dementia (PLWD) and can increase the time they are able to live at home, which is correlated with positive outcomes for both PLWD and their caregivers, and a reduction in system costs
Current educational support often requires individuals to travel to local, urban service care centers and educational content is often provided in English, which can exacerbate the difficulties faced by marginalized caregivers who are caring for PLWD

Summary

Introduction

The rising prevalence of dementia in Canada correlates with the disease’s emergence as a leading healthcare challenge worldwide [1,2]. Current projections indicate that approximately 500,000 Canadians are affected by dementia and the number of cases is expected to double, reaching 1.1 million in the 20 years [1,2] This corresponds to a 10-fold increase in the demand for long-term care (LTC) in Canada, reaching $153 billion annually [2]. A recent analysis shows that the rate of PLWD who are 65 years of age and over living at home will increase from 55% in 2008 to 62% by 2038 [2] This growth is expected to result in over 500,000 more persons in need of community and home-based care over the 20 years, with a shortage of 157,000 beds in residential care facilities [2]. While the federal government envisions community and home-based care as an ideal cost-saving approach to keep PLWD active, engaged, healthy, and safe, many caregivers, especially the recently recognized members of the care team, report feeling ill-equipped to care for these individuals at home [3,4,5,6,7,8]

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