Empowering Cancer Patients Through Self-Advocacy: The Strong Together Mobile App
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have developed "Strong Together," a serious game implemented as a mobile app designed to improve self-advocacy skills among patients with cancer. Self-advocacy involves making informed decisions about care, effectively communicating with healthcare teams, and balancing social support. The game presents scenarios where participants choose behaviors that reflect self-advocacy skills, with the goal of keeping their virtual patient healthy and strong. This innovative tool aims to empower patients and enhance their quality of life.
Description
"Strong Together" is a mobile app that uses a serious game format to teach self-advocacy skills to cancer patients. The game includes short scenarios where participants select behaviors for their animated patient, learning the impact of their decisions. The app is based on the conceptual framework of self-advocacy defined by Dr. Teresa Hagan Thomas and is unique in its focus on this aspect of patient care. The game has been developed in collaboration with Simcoach Games and has undergone multiple rounds of coding and refinement.Applications
• Patient education and empowerment• Cancer care and support
• Healthcare communication training
• Quality of life improvement for cancer patients