Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Blusson Hall, Room 11802, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada.
Political Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Global Health. 2020 Mar 10;16(1):18. doi: 10.1186/s12992-020-00547-6.
While there is widespread recognition of global health failures when it comes to infectious disease outbreaks, there is little discussion on how policy-makers and global health organizations can learn to better prepare and respond. Serious games provide an underutilized tool to promote learning and innovation around global health crises. In order to explore the potential of Serious Games as a policy learning tool, Global Affairs Canada, in collaboration with the Department of National Defense and academic partners, developed and implemented a matrix game aimed at prompting critical reflection and gender-based analysis on infectious disease outbreak preparedness and response. This commentary, written by the core development team, reflects on the process and outcomes of the gaming exercise, which we believe will be of interest to others hoping to promote innovative thinking and learning around global health policy and crisis response, as well as the application of serious games more broadly.
Participants reported, through discussions and a post-game survey, that they felt the game was reflective of real-world decision-making and priority-setting challenges during a crisis. They reflected on the challenges that emerge around global health co-operation and outbreak preparedness, particularly noting the importance of learning to work with private actors. While participants only sporadically applied gender-based analysis or considered the social determinants of health during the game, post-game discussions led to reflection on the ways in which equity concerns are put aside during a crisis scenario and on why this happens, offering critical learning opportunities.
Matrix games provide opportunities for policy-makers and health professionals to experience the challenges of global health co-operation, test ideas and explore how biases, such as those around gender, influence policy-making and implementation. Due to their flexibility, adaptability and accessibility, serious games offer a potentially powerful learning tool for global health policy-makers and practitioners.
尽管人们普遍认识到在传染病爆发方面存在全球卫生失败，但对于政策制定者和全球卫生组织如何能够更好地做好准备和应对，讨论甚少。严肃游戏为促进全球卫生危机方面的学习和创新提供了一种未充分利用的工具。为了探索严肃游戏作为政策学习工具的潜力，加拿大全球事务部与国防部和学术伙伴合作，开发并实施了一个矩阵游戏，旨在促使对传染病爆发的防备和应对进行批判性思考和基于性别的分析。本文由核心开发团队撰写，反映了游戏活动的过程和结果，我们相信这将引起希望在全球卫生政策和危机应对方面促进创新思维和学习的人们的兴趣，以及更广泛地应用严肃游戏。
参与者通过讨论和游戏后调查报告称，他们认为该游戏反映了危机期间实际决策和优先事项设定的挑战。他们反思了围绕全球卫生合作和爆发防备出现的挑战，特别指出了学习与私营行为体合作的重要性。虽然参与者只是偶尔进行基于性别的分析或在游戏中考虑健康的社会决定因素，但游戏后的讨论促使他们思考在危机情景下如何将公平问题放在一边，以及为什么会出现这种情况，从而提供了重要的学习机会。
矩阵游戏为政策制定者和卫生专业人员提供了体验全球卫生合作挑战的机会，检验想法并探索偏见（如性别偏见）如何影响政策制定和实施。由于其灵活性、适应性和可及性，严肃游戏为全球卫生政策制定者和从业人员提供了一种潜在的强大学习工具。
