The Wheel of Sukr: A Framework for Gamifying Diabetes Self-Management in Saudi Arabia

Diabetes is one of the most common chronic illnesses in the world. Saudi Arabia is one of the top countries where diabetes is most prevalent. Living with diabetes requires a great deal of care and self-management skills in several aspects of daily life. Self-care and management range from keeping records of blood glucose levels and other associated information such as food intake, to having the emotional and social support needed to cope with the condition. Even though there are a number of ways in which patients can self-manage diabetes, they do not guarantee adherence to medication or enhance self-management skills. Moreover, the existing tools and communities are not available to Saudi patients. In order to promote better self-management of diabetes we propose the use of Gamification, which is the use of game elements in non-gaming environments. Since it is more psychology than technology, it can influence the behaviour of users and motivate them to better self-manage their condition. The rewarding elements in it could help in motivating users towards healthy behaviours that they find difficult to start or maintain. It has been applied to a number of environments including healthcare, and yielded positive results in terms of increasing engagement, motivating people, and changing behaviour. Thus, in this research we propose a conceptual framework named “The Wheel Of Sukr” to assist in self-management of diabetes for young adults in Saudi Arabia. The framework emphasizes the link between gamification, and behaviour change methods. It incorporates a number of elements that are from the literature, believed to be necessary for the use of gamification in self-management of diabetes to change behaviour or reinforce positive.