The effect of an educational intervention for university students on violence against the elderly using gamification: a non-randomized clinical trial

Objective: to evaluate the impact of a gamified educational intervention on violence against the elderly on the knowledge, perceptions and attitudes of university students. Method: a non-randomized clinical trial involving 44 university students from the health sciences, humanities and exact sciences, with 22 in the intervention group and 22 in the control group. The intervention group participated in hybrid activities on gamification applied to the topic of violence against the elderly. The evaluation was conducted using thematic cases validated by experts, with statistical analysis using Chi-square and Student’s t tests. Results: the intervention promoted significant differences between the groups in attitudes and perceptions about violence against the elderly. Students in the intervention group were more likely to report cases of neglect and were more aware of how to prevent abuse in public spaces. Conclusion: the gamified intervention was effective in stimulating protective attitudes and ethical perceptions of violence against the elderly, but there was no significant association with the knowledge variable. There is a need for more comprehensive studies that can provide complementary evidence to the results of this study.