Avocado

Period: 01.12.2022 - 31.12.2025

This project aims to adapt an existing app to the target group of older adults and the topic of prevention and care provision.

Using a gamification approach, the aim is to increase accessibility to services and stakeholders for the prevention of the need for care. Recently, the use of playful intervention forms (e.g., gamification, serious games) has proven to be an innovative and effective strategy (Dadaczynski et al., 2016; Tolks et al., 2020).

For this project more specifically, we aim to support older adults in their ability to find, understand, evaluate, and use health and care-related information, services and stakeholders (Sørensen et al., 2012). The app is implemented as a location-based game. The game’s progression is is affected by the continual alteration of the geographical location, comparable to a scavenger hunt. Based on a storyline, the participants pass through various relevant stations, which are represented by regional stakeholders with a focus on preventing the need for care. This is intended to familiarise app users with local health and prevention-related support resources in a low-threshold manner (Krah et al., 2021).

In order to meet the actual wishes and needs of the new target group ‘older adults’, a participatory, iterative technology development approach for the app is being pursued, in which methods such as co-creation workshops or field tests are carried out in real-world conditions.