A pioneering app has been created to support families and carers of stroke survivors with virtual training in how to deliver care for them.
iTrain is an interactive training course designed to support at-home, post-stroke care, addressing the gap in provision in helping loved ones to adapt to the survivor’s needs.
Through a game-based approach, the support network can learn from a variety of different scenarios which teach and then test their knowledge in an environment which mirrors their new reality.
And the response to the app – developed in consultation with stroke survivors and their families, as well as clinicians – has been positive, with research showing a significant positive impact on anxiety levels among both survivors and carers after using iTrain.
“The learning takes place in an easy, quick-to-follow mode, somewhat similar to the very popular EA SIMS game,” says Rytis Maskeliūnas, a researcher at the Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), who has developed the app alongside an international team.
“Professional medical expertise and real-life evidence gathered during the iTrain project have been used for the game’s methodology.
“To our knowledge, there are no serious games that teach about stroke care. Even in nursing, it is a rather broad niche.”
iTrain builds on the success of a previous game developed by the team at KTU, which supported dementia carers in learning how to best deliver support and care.
The app – available for Apple and Android devices – teaches best practice in nursing and care, how to create a safe home environment, allows users to try outpatient care in a virtual environment, and teaches other aspects essential for post-stroke care.
Users can use the game by clicking on an object or scenario to test their knowledge, with the situation constantly changing as the quality of life is affected by a variety of factors ranging from a person’s need to eat and sleep, to their psychological state.
Maskeliūnas says this form of training is attractive not only to the younger generation but to all ages, and can replace the need to spend hours reading a brochure or attending a course through the delivery of accessible, remote training.
The interactive training course combines a number of different tools and approaches – a brochure, an interactive Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), visual material and an educational game.
The “iTrain” game is available on Google Play and Apple App Store.
