Development of Serious Games for Rehabilitation: a Delphi Study

March 4, 2026 updated by: Ruben Debeuf, Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Development of Serious Games for Rehabilitation, a Delphi Study

This clinical study has been organised to identify the needs and recommendations of experts in the field of rehabilitation technology and gamification on the development of serious games for rehabilitation. Based on the information gathered we aim to construct a blueprint for the development of serious games for rehabilitation that maximizes clinical outcomes and the effective implementation in rehabilitation.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This study will consist of different phases:

Phase 1:

The first phase consists of an online survey aimed at identifying important tools and methods for each stage of development, as well as across all stages of development. Furthermore, the survey will try to identify key principles that should be taken into account across the entire developmental process of serious games for rehabilitation.

Phase 2:

The second phase consists of online focus groups that will be organized to discuss the results of the online survey and add missing data if needed. These discussions will be held using Microsoft Teams. During these discussions a general model will be discussed en a revision of the results from the previous phase will be done. The results from this discussion will be used to structure the next phase.

Phase 3:

The third and final phase consists of consecutive online surveys in which you will be asked to rank the different items that were mentioned in the previous phase. These results will be collected and analyzed. After which you will get the chance to revise your answer based on all the results. This will be repeated until consensus is reached.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

30

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • Belgium
      • Brussels, Belgium, 1090
        • Recruiting
        • Vrije Universiteit Brussel
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Experience with (the development of) serious games for rehabilitation

Exclusion Criteria:

  • No experience with (the development of) serious games for rehabilitation

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Other: Phase 1
The first phase consists of an online survey aimed at identifying important tools and methodologies for each stage of development, as well as across all stages of development. To structure this survey the TRL model will be used as a conceptual framework (appendix 1). The different levels of the model will be used as stages of development to base the questions on. However, the aim is not to strictly adhere to this model, but to gather input on what methods should be used and what can be adjusted from existing models such as the TRL model to maximize adoption of serious games into care. Furthermore, the survey will try to identify key principles that should be taken into account across the entire developmental process of serious games for rehabilitation. These key principles, such as a user-centered approach, working evidence-based, maximizing engagement of end-users, etc., are the foundation for the developmental process and should be adhered to throughout the entire process.
Other: Online survey
The first phase will consist of an online survey questionnaire aimed at identifying key development methods and tools for each stage of development. The survey will be structured using the Technology Readiness Level model and, by using open questions, experts will be asked to give their input on this model and the important items for each stage of development. Furthermore, the experts will be asked to identify the key principles that they find detrimental to the development of serious games for rehabilitation across all stages of development. Building on the results of this survey, focus group discussions will be organized.
Other: Phase 2
The second phase consists of focus groups that will be organized to discuss the results of the online survey and add missing data if needed. The focus group discussions will also be structured based on the TRL model used during the survey and will expand on the results mentioned by the experts (appendix 2 and 3). After all focus group discussion are completed the results will be anonymized, aggregated and reported to the experts. This will provide them with the opportunity to further revise their answers based on all the results.
Other: Focus group discussions
The second phase of the modified Delphi study will consist of online focus group discussions (using Microsoft Teams) with 6 to 12 experts per session. First, a summary will be given of the results from the survey phase. Following this, the experts will be asked to revise and add onto these results for each stage of development. Additionally the experts will be asked to revise the key principles that span across all stages of development and add missing key principles. Lastly they will be asked to identify already existing methodologies or frameworks that incorporate some (or all) of the mentioned tools or methods.
Other: Phase 3
The third and final phase consists of consecutive online surveys in which the experts are asked to rank the different items that were mentioned in the previous phase on a five-point Likert scale (Appendix 4). Similar to the focus group discussions, the answers from these phases will be anonymized, aggregated and reported to the experts after each ranking phase. Experts will have the opportunity to revise their answers across multiple phases. This ranking process is repeated until consensus is reached for all stages. Consensus will be defined as percentage of agreement and the cut-off will be 75%, as a percentage between 70% and 80% is recommended in Delphi studies.
Other: Ranking results
In the next phase, experts will be asked to rank the different items mentioned during the focus group discussions on a five-point Likert scale through an online survey using Microsoft Forms. For each stage of development, the relevant items will be presented, and the experts will have to rank these items based on their importance (very important to not important at all) for the development of serious games for rehabilitation. The results from this phase will be anonymized and sent to the experts as feedback. Afterwards the experts will have the chance to revise their answers based on this feedback.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Information on the development process of serious games for rehabilitation
Time Frame: Through study completion, on average 1 year
Throughout the Delphi study, qualitative data will be collected (online surveys, focus group discussions, etc.) from experts in the field of serious games for rehabilitation on what methods and/or tools shoudl be used in the development process of serious games for rehabilitation. This data will be collected for all different stages of the development process. Furthermore, overarching key principles that span across all stages of development will also be identified based on expert opinion.
Through study completion, on average 1 year

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Eva Swinnen, Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

March 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

August 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

September 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 25, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 4, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

March 10, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 10, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 4, 2026

Last Verified

March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Delphi serious games

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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