Gamifying Self-Management of Chronic Illnesses: A Mixed-Methods Study

BACKGROUND Self-management of chronic illnesses is an ongoing issue in health care research. Gamification is a concept that arose in the field of computer science and has been borrowed by many other disciplines. It is perceived by many that gamification can improve the self-management experience of people with chronic illnesses. This paper discusses the validation of a framework (called The Wheel of Sukr) that was introduced to achieve this goal. OBJECTIVE This research aims to (1) discuss a gamification framework targeting the self-management of chronic illnesses and (2) validate the framework by diabetic patients, medical professionals, and game experts. METHODS A mixed-method approach was used to validate the framework. Expert interviews (N=8) were conducted in order to validate the themes of the framework. Additionally, diabetic participants completed a questionnaire (N=42) in order to measure their attitudes toward the themes of the framework. RESULTS The results provide a validation of the framework. This indicates that gamification might improve the self-management of chronic illnesses, such as diabetes. Namely, the eight themes in the Wheel of Sukr (fun, esteem, socializing, self-management, self-representation, motivation, growth, sustainability) were perceived positively by 71% (30/42) of the participants with P value <.001. CONCLUSIONS In this research, both the interviews and the questionnaire yielded positive results that validate the framework (The Wheel of Sukr). Generally, this study indicates an overall acceptance of the notion of gamification in the self-management of diabetes.