Exploring Middle School Students’ Perspectives on Using Serious Games for Cancer Prevention Education: Focus Group Study

Background: Cancer in the United States is a leading cause of mortality. Educating adolescents about cancer risks can improve awareness and introduce healthy lifestyle habits. Public health efforts have made significant progress in easing the burden of cancer through the promotion of early screening and healthy lifestyle advocacy. However, there are limited interventions that educate the adolescent population about cancer prevention. Previous studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of serious games (SGs) to teach adolescents about healthy lifestyle choices, but few research efforts have examined the utility of using SGs to educate youth specifically on cancer prevention. Objective: This study aimed to investigate middle school students’ preferences for the use of SGs for cancer prevention education. The study also characterized the students’ perceptions of desired game design features for a cancer prevention SG. Methods: Focus groups were held to allow adolescents to review a game playbook and discuss gaming behaviors and preferences for an SG for cancer education. The game playbook was developed based on “Cancer, Clear & Simple,” a curriculum intended to educate individuals about cancer, prevention, self-care, screening, and detection. In the game, the player learns that they have cancer and is given the opportunity to go back in time to reduce their cancer risk. A focus group discussion guide was developed and consisted of questions about aspects of the playbook and the participants’ gaming experience. The participants were eligible if they were 12 to 14 years old, could speak and understand English, and had parents who could read English or Spanish. Each focus group consisted of 5 to 10 persons. The focus groups were audio recorded and professionally transcribed; they were then analyzed content-wise and thematically by 2 study team members. Intercoder reliability (kappa coefficient) among the coders was reported as 0.97. The prevalent codes were identified and categorized into themes and subthemes. Results: A total of 18 focus groups were held with 139 participants from a Wisconsin middle school. Most participants had at least “some” gaming experience. Three major themes were identified, which were educational video games, game content, and purpose of game. The participants preferred customizable characters and realistic story lines that allowed players to make choices that affect the characters’ outcomes. Middle school students also preferred SGs over other educational methods such as lectures, books, videos, and websites. The participants desired SGs to be available across multiple platforms and suggested the use of SGs for cancer education in their school. Conclusions: Older children and adolescents consider SGs to be an entertaining tool to learn about cancer prevention and risk factors. Their design preferences should be considered to create a cancer education SG that is acceptable and engaging for youth.

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