Donate Life! Validation of a board game about knowledge of organ and tissue donation and transplantation (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Organ and tissue donation practices in Brazil is low compared to other countries, the primary cause is due to family refusal. Adolescents are considered important targets in educational campaigns because they are involved in an intense process of biopsychosocial and indirect family involvement. Educational technologies aim to harness technological potential to engage individuals in the empowerment process. Educational games with content and purpose, also known as serious games (SG), play a prominent role. Conceptually, they represent games that go beyond entertainment, aiming to promote health, contribute to the discussion of sensitive topics, educate, guide, and encourage healthy habits and behaviors. To achieve this, they must undergo content and predictive validation, aiming to ensure their effectiveness as a health education tool as part of the learning process of the target audience. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to document the process of designing, developing and validating the gamification of an experimental board game about organ and tissue donation and transplantation targeting adolescents and adults. METHODS This was a methodological study of content and appearance validation organized in four stages: situational analysis, board game prototype development, content validation, and production of the final game board version. The game prototype underwent a content validation process following criteria established by Pasquali. The Delphi technique was used, which involves evaluating a specific theme through expert judgment. Na academic panel of professionals were selected and divided into 3 groups: educational professionals with experience in playful-pedagogical activities, health professionals with experience in organ donation and transplantation and design and advertising professionals with experience in playful games. One on-line data collection form was created for each panel of judges, using a 4-point Likert-type agreement scale for each item. After two Delphi rounds, the Content Validation Index (CVI) was obtained. RESULTS The final game version consists of a game board with 48 squares, six pawns, a six-sided die, a set of 20 green cards, 20 yellow cards, and 15 red cards containing easy, moderate and difficult level questions, respectively. Additionally, the game includes a manual of rules and instructions to be used by the teacher to guide participants before and during the game. Out of the 86 items evaluated by the judge panel during the first Delphi round, 80 scored above a 0.78 CVI, considered valid. In the second round, after excluding one item, validation was achieved for the remaining five items. CONCLUSIONS It is expected that the game board will contribute to the learning of participants about the aspects involving organ donation and transplantation, as well as the importance and encouragement to become an organ-donor contributing to improving the health of others. Efficacy studies are needed to study game play involving participants.