Keywords: ASTHMA CONTINUITY CHILDREN GAME VIDEOGAME LLM AI

Background:

Continuity of care is a core value of general practice and a central challenge in paediatric asthma management. Despite the widespread use of written asthma action plans, engagement between consultations remains limited, particularly regarding trigger recognition, peak expiratory flow (PEF) monitoring, and sustained self-management. Emerging guidance, including NICE early value assessments on digital technologies for asthma self-management, highlights the need for innovative, safe, and patient-centred digital tools.

Research questions:

Can a gamified asthma action plan, co-designed by clinicians and supported by AI-based rapid prototyping, help identify and address gaps in continuity of care, self-management, and educational engagement in paediatric asthma?

Method:

Puff Puff is a "serious game" developed during a Clinical Game Jam involving clinicians and non-clinical participants. Large Language Models were used to support rapid prototyping, narrative design, and educational content creation. The game translates key elements of the asthma action plan into interactive gameplay, including PEF recording and trigger education through scenario-based challenges (e.g. seasonal viral infections, environmental exposures, vaccination as preventive strategy). Game progression is linked to real-life clinical encounters, with general practitioners represented as in-game characters providing asthma devices corresponding to prescribed therapy. Exploratory testing will involve children with asthma, children without asthma, clinicians involved in asthma care, and game developers.

Results:

Expected outcomes include identification of unmet educational needs related to trigger awareness, epidemiological understanding, PEF monitoring, and continuity between consultations, alongside insights into the feasibility of embedding guideline-aligned self-management principles into a serious game.
Conclusions
Gamifying the asthma action plan may represent a novel way to support continuity of care in paediatric asthma. Clinician-led, AI-supported co-design aligns with emerging NICE perspectives on digital self-management tools and offers a framework for future primary care research.

Conclusions:

Points for discussion:

Can continuity of care be intentionally designed into digital self-management tools?

How can epidemiological concepts be safely conveyed to children and families?

What governance and cyber-security standards are required for child-facing digital health tools?