Gaming for health - A mixed methods approach using the pork tapeworm as a model

The pork tapeworm is ranked as the number one foodborne parasite
according to WHO and FAO due to its substantial economic and
health impacts. Neurocysticercosis, caused by the establishment of
pork tapeworm larvae in the human brain, accounts for about one
third of all epilepsy cases in endemic regions. Lack of knowledge and
awareness is one of the key risk factors for tapeworm infections.
Education is a core component in control efforts, without which
externally-imposed control strategies such as human or pig
treatments, are not sustainable. In this ground-breaking project an
education intervention using two novel games developed by the
applicant: a digital game based on the “The Vicious Worm” and a
board game will be trialled in school going children in a highly
endemic area in Zambia. Data collections will build on the pork
tapeworm as a model in the interaction between pigs and humans.
Besides uptake of knowledge, changes in behaviour of both children
and household members will be assessed. Quantitative and
qualitative data from school going children, and qualitative data from
interviews with household members will be collected and analysed.
The direct impact of the gamified interventions is assessed by
measuring infection transmission in the pig as sentinel animal. The
disseminated results will lead to recommendations to advance the
control of the pork tapeworm as part of the WHO 2030 goals for
priority Neglected Tropical Diseases.