A Community-Based Infectious Disease Board Game to Enhance Intergenerational Learning in Gerontological Nursing Education

Purpose To develop and evaluate a community-based infectious disease board game intervention aimed at enhancing intergenerational learning between nursing students and older adults, and improving competencies related to dengue fever, scabies, SARS, and HIV/AIDS.Design This quasi-experimental study used an independent, non-matched, two-group pretest – posttest design.Methods Third-year nursing students in southern Taiwan were recruited and assigned to either an intervention or a control group. The intervention group participated in a five-week program consisting of three weeks of classroom instruction followed by two weeks of board game – based learning sessions conducted with older adults. The control group received traditional lecture-based instruction. Outcomes measured included students’ communication, teamwork, and social responsibility, as well as older adults’ knowledge, attitudes, and preventive behaviors regarding infectious diseases.Findings Students in the intervention group demonstrated significantly greater improvements than the control group in health communication (t = 2.82, p = .006), team collaboration (t = 5.33, p < .001), and social responsibility (t = 4.07, p < .001). Older adults also showed significant improvements in infectious disease knowledge, attitudes, and preventive behaviors, all p < .001.Conclusions The integration of educational board games into nursing curricula is an effective and scalable strategy for enhancing intergenerational learning, fostering key professional competencies among students, and improving health literacy among older adults.Clinical Relevance This approach provides practical implications for gerontological nursing education by promoting intergenerational collaboration, strengthening community engagement, and supporting the development of preventive health behaviors among older populations.