SRFP043: Exploring feasibility of collecting data on communication practices and treatment decisions using role-playing: A pilot study

Sarah Aboushawareb, BPharm, MSc, PhD student; Gillian Bartlett-Esquilant, PhD; Peter Nugus, PhD, BA, MA, MEd; Amalia Issa, PhD, MPH; Tracie Barnett, PhD

Abstract

Context: Serious gaming is an approach to medical education that has been gaining attention lately. These are games developed with a pedagogical purpose that have been shown to lead to higher satisfaction for learners by allowing them to learn new skills in a safe and interactive environment. This approach has been taken to teach communication skills in medical education. Objective: To pilot test an adaptation of a serious game that is already developed as a role-play game (RPG) to be further used in full studies for medical education. This pilot test explores the feasibility of this RPG to collect data on communication practices and treatment decisions. The specific objectives are to: 1) identify any potential problems using the proposed tools and instruments; 2) test if the study instruments are appropriate to the study objective; 3) deciding on study methods and methodology; and 4) test the process of data collection. Pilot studies answer the question “can this be done?” and not “does this intervention work?” i.e., it explores the feasibility of the proposed study and not to answer its hypothesis Study Design: Qualitative descriptive study. Setting: Pilot study of a virtual serious game that is an RPG. Each session was about 2 hours in length and due to COVID-19 restrictions, all sessions were carried out online using the Zoom platform. Population Studied: Four RPG sessions were carried out with a total of twenty participants. Outcome Measures: Field notes and participants’ feedback were used to assess every session in three steps: 1) determining the feasibility of the study, 2) participation of subjects, and 3) testing the measurement instruments. Results: From this study we were able to fully adapt the RPG for our purposes. We could identify the time required for completion of every task in the RPG, modify the wording on the different pieces of the RPG to make sure participants are able to read, understand, and answer any questions written on them, identify the number of research members needed per session, and the ability to open, use, and fill all documents during the RPG session, among other results. Conclusions: Conducting this pilot study has demonstrated that RPG can be used to collect data on communication practices and treatment decisions. We will be further using this RPG to understand and describe the communication practices including shared decision making in treatment decisions.
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Jack Westfall
jwestfall@aafp.org 11/21/2021

Thanks for your terrific work on this research. Hope we can connect.

Sarah Aboushawareb
sarah.aboushawareb@mail.mcgill.ca 11/22/2021

Thank you very much, Jack. I have now sent you a connection invite on LinkedIn.

Gillian Bartlett
gillian.bartlett@health.missouri.edu 11/21/2021

Great job Sarah - look forward to seeing final results next year!

Sarah Aboushawareb
sarah.aboushawareb@mail.mcgill.ca 11/22/2021

Thanks a lot, Jill! I could not have done this without your guidance and support!

Jackie Bartlett
jackie.bartlett70@gmail.com 11/21/2021

Excellent work Sarah, the simplicity and concise nature of your poster appeals to me, looking forward to the next chapter.

Sarah Aboushawareb
sarah.aboushawareb@mail.mcgill.ca 11/22/2021

Thank you very much for your feedback, Jackie!

William R. Phillips
wphllps@uw.edu 11/21/2021

Great poster on a very interesting research project. Many people call their study project a pilot study but few to this effective a job of designing it as a pilot to provide the data and experience necessary to plan a successful study. Excellent! Everything seems to be getting "gamified" these days. If this training program is about patient-clinician communication and decisions, what part do patients play in the creation and use of this RPG in clinician training? Thanks for sharing your work here at NAPCRG. - Bill Phillips

Sarah Aboushawareb
sarah.aboushawareb@mail.mcgill.ca 11/22/2021

Thank you very much for your feedback, I appreciate it! Input from patients' families was collected in the early stages of designing this RPG (this was done by Dr. Gillian Bartlett and her team before I embarked on this project). Their input helped shed the light on some of their priorities in treatment decisions which has subsequently informed the design and description of the different roles (and thus, persona or characters) that are to be assigned to the participants during the RPG (the roles can be: a physician, a patient, or a parent). I plan to use the adapted RPG with healthcare providers and trainees for the pedagogical purpose of teaching SDM as I describe in my 2nd poster in NAPCRG (Poster #SRFP109) in the following link (https://napcrg.org/conferences/annual/na21-poster-hall/studentresidentorfellowsposteronresearchinprogress/3150/). I hope this addresses your question and I'd be more than happy to discuss this further. Thank you.

Amalia Issa
amalia.issa2@mcgill.ca 11/22/2021

Terrific work Sarah! Nice presentation of a very interesting pilot study. Can't wait to see the final results! 

Sarah Aboushawareb
sarah.aboushawareb@mail.mcgill.ca 11/22/2021

Thank you very much for your feedback, Amalia, it is much appreciated!

Diane Harper
harperdi@med.umich.edu 11/22/2021

communication is the most important topic!! Thank you for sharing your work with NAPCRG!

Sarah Aboushawareb
sarah.aboushawareb@mail.mcgill.ca 11/22/2021

Thank you very much, Diane!

Andy Pasternak
avpiv711@sbcglobal.net 11/26/2021

Interesting study. Well done

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