Health education: Towards the age of the metaverse, health literacy game

OpenAlex İngilizce

Objective: The World Health Organization recommends people engage in settings where they can actively engage and take advantage of novel ideas and approaches in education to enhance their health literacy. Gamified systems are one of them. Also, The Metaverse concept has become widely popular, particularly amid the pandemic, as individuals resorted to virtual platforms for tasks such as work, education, shopping, and other pursuits. The opportunities presented by Metaverse are thrilling for both education and gamification, and they similarly apply to the improvement of health literacy. In this context, the present study was conducted to examine the effects of individuals with different demographic characteristics receiving education on health literacy in a game.Material and Method: This study is a pre-test, post-test quasi-experimental study. Individuals over the age of 18 were included in the study with the convenience sampling method (n=199). A pre-test was given via Google Forms, and post-test data was obtained from a game.Results: A statistically significant difference was detected between participants’ post-test and pre-test scores (p<0.001). The findings revealed that the participant’s level of education and age caused differences in the post-test scores (p<0.001). Finally, a statistically significant correlation was detected between body mass index (BMI) and post-test scores (p<0.001).Conclusion: This study demonstrates that a game-based approach improves health literacy. The impact of the game varies across age groups and educational levels, indicating a need for customized strategies. A negative correlation between post-test scores and BMI suggests a potential link between health literacy and health outcomes.