Evaluation of a dementia awareness game for allied health professional students in United Kingdom and Ireland: a Pre-/Post-Test study

Introduction <br/><br/>Dementia is a well-known global health issue, with cases projected to increase from 57·4 million cases globally in 2019 to 152.8 million by 2050. Dementia's impact extends beyond individuals, affecting families, healthcare providers, and society at large. The complex, progressive nature of dementia necessitates a person-centred approach to care, involving a multidisciplinary team of health and allied health professional students. For allied health professional students, education about dementia is crucial to provide effective, compassionate care. Innovative learning methods, such as serious games, have shown promise in improving understanding and perceptions of dementia. This study aims to assess whether a previously co-designed serious digital game (www.dementiagame.com) can enhance knowledge about dementia among allied health professional students in the UK and Ireland, using a pre-/post-test design. <br/><br/>Methodology <br/><br/>The intervention was a digital serious game called “The Dementia Game”, which was available to allied health professional students throughout the UK and Ireland over 14 months from 2023-2024. The validated Attitudes to Dementia Questionnaire (ADQ) was presented to participants prior to and following engagement with the game for the pre/post-test design. This 19-item questionnaire asks participants to rate their agreement on a Likert-type scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. This questionnaire consists of two sub-scales: ‘hopefulness’ (8-items) and person-centredness (11-items). <br/><br/>Results <br/><br/>Participants were from the UK and Ireland;196 completed both pre- and post-test measures. The range of disciplines included Nursing, Speech and Language Therapy, Pharmacy, Dietetics, Social Work and Medicine. Overall, participants showed increased scores on the post-test total ADQ scores compared to their pre-test score. A statistically significant mean increase of M = 3.70, 95% CI [4.33, 3.08], t (195) = 11.66, p &lt; .001, with a large effect size (d = 0.83) was found. This was a statistically significant mean increase across the ADQ and in both the hope and person-centred subscales. <br/><br/>Conclusion <br/><br/>This study demonstrates that a brief educational game promoting dementia awareness improves the attitudes of health and allied health professional students across the UK and Ireland. Utilising innovative educational tools, such as serious games, enhance understanding and foster person-centred attitudes essential for supporting people with dementia. The findings highlight the effectiveness of integrating brief, targeted interventions with traditional teaching methods to accommodate diverse learning styles, ultimately leading to a more comprehensive grasp of caring for people with dementia.