Background: Play Kindly is a gamified animated app designed to address common behavioral problems in childhood. The interface is designed to appeal to Pacific people, a population group with a higher risk of developing clinically significant behavioral problems than most other ethnic groups in New Zealand. Objective: The aim of this study is to explore the opinions of parents and professionals about the acceptability, usability, and content of Play Kindly. Methods: We used qualitative and Pacific and Māori research methodologies. A total of five focus groups with 45 parents and 12 individual interviews with professionals were conducted. The five focus groups consisted of 2 pan-Pacific groups, 1 Māori group, 1 open group, and 1 group of young Pacific adults or prospective parents. The professionals were from a range of disciplines, and the majority had expertise in early childhood, parenting interventions, or research in this field. Results: Play Kindly appealed to both parents and professionals. Participants related to the scenarios, which were created in collaboration with a playwright and animator. Although most participants liked the Pacific feel, there was some disagreement about how culturally specific the app should be. A range of issues with usability and gamification techniques were highlighted, likely attributed to the low budget and lack of initial co-design with parents as well as professionals with specific expertise in parenting. A number of parents and professionals felt that the parenting strategies were overly simplified and did not take into account the context in which the behavior occurred. Professionals suggested narrowing the focus of the app to deliver two important parenting messages: playing with your child and positively reinforcing desired behaviors. Conclusions: Play Kindly is the first culturally adapted parenting app of its kind designed for Pacific parents and other New Zealanders with children 2-5 years of age. This app has potential in Pacific communities where there are limited culturally specific parenting resources. The results of this study will guide improvements of the app prior to testing it in an open trial.

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Background: Data on nutritional information and digital gameplay are limited among young adults in Germany. Objective: This survey aimed to gather data on nutritional information sources and digital games for nutritional education (preferences, motives, and behaviors) among young adults at both Munich universities in Germany. Methods: An online survey was developed by an multidisciplinary research group using EvaSys, an in-house survey software. The questionnaire (47 items) covered questions about baseline characteristics (eg, housing situation and weight), nutrition (eg, nutritional information sources), and digital (nutritional) gameplay (eg, preferences, motives, and behaviors). A feedback field was also provided. This publication is based on a selection of 20 questions (7 baseline characteristics, 2 nutrition, 11 gameplay). Young adults, primarily Munich university students aged from 18 to 24 years, were invited to participate by digital and nondigital communication channels between 2016 and 2017. Statistical analyses were performed using Excel 2013 (Microsoft Corp) and R version 3.1.3 (R Foundation for Statistical Computing). Results: In total, 468 young adults (342/468, 73.1% women; 379/468, 81.0% university students) participated. Most of the participants (269/468, 57.5%) were aged 18 to 24 years with a BMI in the normal weight range (346/447, 77.4%). Mean body weight was 65.5 [SD 14.0] kg. Most participants reported getting nutritional information from the internet (372/467, 79.7%) and printed media (298/467, 63.8%), less than 1.0% (2/467, 0.4%) named digital games. Apps (100/461, 21.7%) and university/workplace (146/461, 31.7%) were the most desired sources for additional information about nutrition, while 10.0% (46/461, 10.0%) of participants stated wanting digital games. Almost two-thirds (293/468, 62.6%) of participants played digital games, while one-fifth (97/456, 21.3%) played digital games daily using smartphones or tablets. Finally, most respondents (343/468, 73.3%), mainly women, expressed interest in obtaining nutritional information during digital gameplay. However, significant gender differences were shown for nutritional acquisition behaviors and digital gameplay preferences, motives, and behaviors. Conclusions: Our survey population reported playing digital games (especially men) and wanting nutritional information during digital gameplay (especially women). Furthermore, university or workplace are named as preferred settings for nutritional information. Therefore, a digital game app might have the potential to be a tool for nutritional education among young adults within the university or workplace environment.

This is the abstract only. Read the full text free (open access) on the JMIR Serious Games website. JMIR is the leading ehealth publisher: fast peer-review - open access - high impact.

Background: Chinese square dancing, known as guangchang wu in Chinese, is a well-known public fitness activity that provides an entertaining way for older Chinese women to improve their flexibility, lower extremity strength, overall coordination, and balance. However, injuries, noise conflicts, and lack of space are challenging aspects of this activity. Somatosensory games (SG) are an increasingly popular physical fitness approach to enhance the selective attention of older persons with indoor engagement and exercises. Objective: The objectives of this study were to develop a newly designed somatosensory square dance system for older Chinese people and to evaluate its usability. Methods: This is a mixed methods study. The newly designed somatosensory square dance system is a somatic training tool that provides adequate Chinese square dance fitness training based on Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) and design guidelines established in a previous stage. The usability evaluation involved a questionnaire and interviews. Twelve participants were interviewed before and after experiencing the 15-minute dancing and learning process within the program. In addition, participants scored their experience satisfaction in psychological, physiological, and relaxation sections on a scale of 1 to 5 using a questionnaire. Qualitative content analysis and quantitative analysis of the satisfaction scores supported understanding of usability problems. Results: Based on the interview results, 6/12 (50%) of the participants thought the system could help them correct their dancing movements indoors without being affected by poor outdoor weather. Among the participants, 3/12 (25%) indicated that this indoor system could enable them to enjoy fitness activities in a private space. Moreover, 3/12 participants (25%) stated that this system could promote family relationships by providing easy dancing movements. All participants were highly satisfied with the relaxation aspect of the system (4.45/5). The participants were all psychologically satisfied and interested in the novel features of the system, with an average score of 4.16/5. Physiologically, participants affirmed that the system could help them maintain good health (4.91/5). Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that the somatosensory square dance system can be used as an indoor fitness tool to improve older Chinese square dancers’ health conditions with reasonable dance training. Noise and space conflicts can be addressed. The Laban Elated Square Dance system, which was modified by therapists based on LMA and square dance design guidelines, was highly approved by dancers because it decreased the possibility of injuries, falls, and joint damage by considering the physical and psychological difficulties of older persons. Different features will be considered in the next stage, such as greater selection of exercises and difficulty level settings. Users’ social needs will also be explored in subsequent stages.

This is the abstract only. Read the full text free (open access) on the JMIR Serious Games website. JMIR is the leading ehealth publisher: fast peer-review - open access - high impact.

Background: Digital gaming is one of the most popular forms of entertainment in the world. While prior literature concluded that digital games can enable changes in players’ behaviors, there is limited knowledge about different types of behavior changes and the game features driving them. Understanding behavior changes and the game features behind them is important because digital games can motivate players to change their behavior for the better (or worse). Objective: This study investigates the types of behavior changes and their underlying game features within the context of the popular pervasive game Pokémon GO. Methods: We collected data from 262 respondents with a critical incident technique (CIT) questionnaire. We analyzed the responses with applied thematic analysis with ATLAS.ti (ATLAS.ti Scientific Software Development GmbH) software. Results: We discovered 8 types of behavior changes and 13 game features relevant to those behavior changes. The behavior changes included added activity in life, enhancing routines, exploration, increased physical activity, strengthening social bonds, lowering social barriers, increased positive emotional expression and self-treatment. The game features included reaching a higher level, catching new Pokémon, evolving new Pokémon, visiting PokéStops, exploring PokéStops, hatching eggs, fighting in gyms, collaborative fighting, exploiting special events, finding specific Pokémon, using items, Pokémon theme, and game location tied to physical location. The behavior changes were connected to specific game features, with game location tied to physical location and catching new Pokémon being the most common and connected to all behavior changes. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that the surveyed players changed their behaviors while or after playing Pokémon GO. The respondents reported being more social, expressed more positive emotions, found more meaningfulness in their routines, and had increased motivation to explore their surroundings.

This is the abstract only. Read the full text free (open access) on the JMIR Serious Games website. JMIR is the leading ehealth publisher: fast peer-review - open access - high impact.