The Effect of Training Health Care Providers Using Gamification Method on Social Skills of Preschool Children

Abstract

Background: Preschool is one of the most important ages in learning and developing social skills in children. One of the most important issues in the education of healthcare providers is to improve their knowledge about children's social skills because healthcare providers, as an important part of a health team, are at the forefront of communication with families. Objectives: This study was done to investigate the effect of education to health care providers with the gamification method on the social skills of preschool children. Methods: In the present quasi-experimental study, 71 female healthcare providers working in selected collective health centers in Shiraz, Iran, were included in the study. The educational content of this study was an educational software as question games based on gamification, which was provided to healthcare providers. Data collection tools were two questionnaires, including a demographic information questionnaire and a researcher-made questionnaire on social skills in preschool children. To analyze data, the effectiveness of the intervention was measured using Wilks' lambda multivariate test. The relationship between knowledge score and participants' demographic variables was assessed by the linear regression analysis. Data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 22). Results: There was an increase in the knowledge of healthcare providers at three-time points, including before, immediately after, and one month after the educational intervention. Significant relationships were also observed between mean knowledge scores of the participants in all components of the questionnaire before, immediately after, and one month after the intervention (P < 0.001), with significant increases in mean post-intervention scores. The knowledge scores at three-time points, before, immediately after, and one month after the intervention, had significant associations with the educational level of participants (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Increasing the awareness of health care providers through the gamification method showed that this method has an important role in implementing social skills training for children.