Using a motion‐controlled game to teach four elementary school children with intellectual disabilities to improve hand hygiene

• Published in: Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities Vol. 32; no. 4; pp. 942 - 951
• Main Authors: Kang, Ya‐Shu, Chang, Yao‐Jen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.07.2019
• Subjects: Child; Children with disabilities; Computer & video games; Conditioning, Operant; Disabled Children - rehabilitation; Education, Special - methods; Female; Hand Hygiene; hand hygiene training; Health education; Humans; Hygiene; Intellectual disabilities; intellectual disability; Intellectual Disability - rehabilitation; Kinect V2; Male; Teaching methods; Treatment Outcome; Unity 3D; video game; Video Games; Kinect V2; Unity 3D; video game; hand hygiene training; intellectual disability
• ISSN: 1360-2322; 1468-3148
• DOI: 10.1111/jar.12587

Background Individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) may have difficulties in performing daily living tasks. Among other daily living tasks, independent personal hygiene is an essential life skill for people with ID. Materials and Methods Four children in a special education class participated in the experiment. We employed the Kinect V2 sensor to gamify hand washing. Specifically, a non‐concurrent multiple baseline design was adopted to demonstrate the relation between game‐based intervention and washing hands independently. Results Data showed that the percentage of correct task steps increased among all four participants. Social validity results showed the parents considered the video game was very useful and it had helped their children learn the hand hygiene skills effectively. Conclusions Although the game is a highly accepted training tool for school‐use, it currently remains error‐prone. A more technically robust system will likely result in higher participant motivation and task performance.