SOS Game for Seniors Care

The SOS Game for Seniors Care App is designed to improve knowledge application and clinical reasoning by healthcare students and providers caring for clients in long-term care. Through a series of patient simulation cases for geriatric medical conditions associated with preventable hospitalizations, players are challenged to recognize and prioritize symptoms, identify patterns, make efficient clinical decisions and rehearse communication. Cases include real clinical situations and integrate evidence from clinical guidelines, evidence-based syntheses, and research publications. A sensory observation system (SOS) ensures systematic clinical assessment. SBAR (Situation – Background – Assessment – Recommendation) is used to structure each case and rehearse communication required in work settings. Game mechanics include action point starvation, virtual earnings, randomization, time constraints, difficulty and player levels, power ups and notifications. Reflective prompts, leaderboards, statistics and badges provide instant feedback. Analytics enable educators and employers to monitor performance and learning gaps. Improvements in learning curves were associated with gameplay. This App has the potential to be adapted for instruction in education or industry training.