Artigo:

The present study is part of a doctoral research that investigates parameters for the design of auxiliary electronic games in the treatment of children born with congenital clubfoot. According to Pappa; Zoulias; Mantas, 2020, the term serious games (SG) refers to games specifically designed for purposes other than mere entertainment, and these are considered a useful tool to bring better health outcomes. According to Annema et al., 2010, electronic games that are specifically designed for use in therapies have different requirements from those observed in conventional ones, as there is a distinction in the characteristics of the users, the patient being the player and the therapist the secondary user, both with different objectives, notably physical rehabilitation rather than entertainment. In this context, the SG design process must include the participation of the player and also of the professionals involved with the patient. The research in question has the participation of an interdisciplinary team composed of physicians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and psychologists who are part of the treatment group for patients with congenital clubfoot at IOT-HCFMUSP. The research protocol foresees the accomplishment of experiments with users for a period of seven to nine weeks, in which they will have to interact with at least three different electronic games connected to a sensor that allows the command of the games through the accomplishment of exercises of ankle dorsiflexion. Different parameters related to the system design will be discussed in a focus group composed of health professionals involved in the research, such as the adequacy of the game mechanics to the physical exercise routine, the way of evaluating the success of the performed movement, the synchrony between the therapist's commands and the patient's response, in addition to visual, sound and narrative elements of the games, in order to verify the applicability of the proposed design.