A Tutorial for an Interactive Narrative Simulation for Alzheimer's Disease's Caregivers: Development and Evaluation.

Alzheimer Care Trainer (ACT) is an interactive narrative simulation for caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease. It aims to support family caregivers by letting them practice difficult situations of daily life in a training environment. In order to ensure its accessibility to its target audience, which may be unfamiliar with new technologies, we have created a tutorial. The aim of the tutorial is to teach users the main mechanics of the simulation. Considered to be an introductory level to ACT, it is built in 2 parts, a dirigiste first part and an exploratory, second part. Several tutorial elements, such as context-sensitive information or a help page, have been integrated. The evaluation of the tutorial by 14 participants revealed that interaction mechanics were well understood although the state of the visual element remains confusing. Generated positive affects were stronger than the negative ones and most of the participants were confident to play the game after the tutorial. Ensuring accessibility to all populations is essential especially when targeting seniors. A well-conceived tutorial has the potential to familiarize users with our intervention, reducing the risk of excluding people that could benefit from it.

Family Relationships and Alzheimer's Disease: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Family caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease are the most important support in concrete personal and economic terms. Family dynamics play a fundamental role in the provision of informal caregiving benefits. OBJECTIVE: This review aims to identify factors related to the family caregiving of relatives with Alzheimer's disease, taking specifically into account the construct of coping and expressed emotion. METHODS: This is a systematic review including articles selected using search terms including "caregivers," "Alzheimer's," "family," and "relationship" in research databases. Findings were synthesized and categorized into themes. RESULTS: A total of 454 abstracts were identified. Following screening, lateral searches, and quality appraisal, 36 studies were included for synthesis. A total of 5 themes were identified: burden; demographics; coping strategies; caregiver mental health; and family dynamics and expressed emotions. CONCLUSION: The quality and level of evidence supporting each theme varied. We need further research into family dynamics ameliorating the caregiving and how to measure it.

An open randomized controlled study comparing an online text-based scenario and a serious game by Belgian and Swiss pharmacy students.

INTRODUCTION: To compare online learning tools, looped, branch serious game (SG) and linear text-based scenario (TBS), among a sample of Belgian and Swiss pharmacy students. METHODS: Open randomized controlled study. The lesson was based on the case of a benign cough in a healthy child. A randomized sample of 117 students: only the Swiss students had attended a previous lecture on coughs. Participation rate, pre- and post-experience Likert scales and students' clinical knowledge were measured. RESULTS: Our primary hypothesis was demonstrated: students favored the SG even if navigation was rated as more complex, and students who performed the SG better understood the aim of pharmacist triage in case of cough. The influence of the SG appeared to be linked to the presence of a previous lecture in the curriculum. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: SG and TBS are effective to teach pharmacist triage. Higher SG complexity should be used to teach the aim of pharmacist triage in the case of a specific disease and could be an alternative to simulated patients. A simpler TBS does not require a previous lecture and a debriefing to be fully effective.