Ethics

We need ethics approval to ensure (minimize at least) that through our data collection we do not cause any risks to study participants, either consciously or unconsciously.

The standardized form needs to be filled in and approved by me before data collection starts.

Fill in the form (I will share it with you).

Ethics

EMPRA congress poster

Presentation is on Wednesday, May 28th between 09:00 - 11:30 in MSH Black Box

Poster must be A0, portrait mode, in English.

Can be created using Power Point, Quarto, or anything else that you are already familiar with.

Final report

A template will be provided on the MOODLE page of the practicum.

Use the template. Not using the provided template will disqualify the final report!

Send me the report in .doc format.

Final report

Choose a deadline from:

• June 13

• June 20

Data collection

Participant compensation available.

We will choose in the max. next two meetings whether

• laboratory study (max. 400€ in total, max. 10€ + 0.50€ per participant)

• online survey (max. 200€ for vouchers; note the 0.50€ per voucher)

Grades

One grade per group.

Make sure there is an equitable work distribution among you. Please report in due time (anonymously) if you feel that that is not the case.

UL grading scheme will be used: 0 - 20 (20 being excellent).

Final grade will be a weight of the following:

• Attendance
• Active participation
• Theory work
• Data analysis
• Poster work
• Presentation
• Written report

Meetings

We meet every week. Planned are 90 minutes.

Room TBD.

• Tuesdays, 09:30 - 11:00, or
• Thursdays, 9:30 - 11:00.

Mental health in older people

Health declines with age involving biological, social, and psychological changes

Mental health is a state of individual well-being beyond absence of disorder that is integral to one’s health and promotes stress coping, goal fulfillment, learning and working well, as well as community engagement

Protective factors are meaningful social relations and a sense of belonging

(Mental) health of older people is a global concern

Digital technology

Solution:

• is cost-effective
• can address healthcare needs of a wide population because
• it builds on existent hardware and software

But also:

• assumes agency, which is problematic in older people
• poorly designed without community input adds to negative health

Behavior and internal motivation

Individual behavior is informed by value motivational goals

Contrary to old age stereotypes, older people can and are willing to learn something new but they need to know why that is important (resonance with internal motivation)

Game-based education for older people

The need for internal motivation and social orientation are addressed in educational game-based approaches by design

Psycho-education through digital games

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) sees cognitive and emotional biases as causes to pathology

Group CBT (CBGT) views interactions between group members as the mechanisms of treatment

CBGT uses psycho-education to redefine dissatisfaction and lack of agency concerning mental health into internal motivational goal-setting

How can the digital game playing medium be leveraged to deliver CBGT psycho-education interventions in combating pathology in communities of older people?

Treatment guidelines working with older people

Possible research questions

1. What games do older people like to play?

2. Do older people prefer certain games depending on value motivational goal preferences?

3. What do older people need for playing games as part of a community?

4. Can game playing contribute to combating mental healthcare stigmatization?

…

Your turn

1. Research question you are interested in

2. Aspect about research that most definitely is not your strength

3. Aspect about research you feel most comfortable about