About the game
The idea of "Challenging Perspectives" is both to challenge one's own perspective on military medical ethics and to be exposed to challenging perspectives and scenarios in military medical ethics in a game-like setting.
Introduction
This project aims to improve ethics training by developing a serious moral game that harnesses the proven benefits of board games as powerful informal learning environments to equip health care providers (HCP) with the tools they need to respond effectively and ethically in the mission field.
The game addresses the need to continuously develop educational methods in military medical ethics to improve the ethical skills of HCPs to better adapt to challenging scenarios, be they civilian, military, or humanitarian. For example, resource allocation is an ever-present issue, as illustrated by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. In military scenarios, the need to comply with international humanitarian law and the constant risk of PTSD resulting from moral injury make ethics education of HCPs an essential requirement for sound medical practice and it can foster resilience among the medical staff.
The Game
The goal of this game is to traverse through an ethically challenging scenario and reach a decision among the group of players on how to handle such situations. In order to accomplish the goal, the players pass through five consecutive phases: the scenario phase, the moral question phase, the lens phase, the evaluation phase and the action phase. Each phase has a time limit indicated. Respecting the suggested time limits is recommended, but players can decide to switch to the next phase earlier and can also decide to take more time if they think it is needed for a specific phase.
Throughout the game discussions are welcomed, and players have the liberty to use any additional material, internet resources, etc. that could support their decision-making process.
The Goal
The goal is to provide a tool that can be used by ethics trainers or by small groups to support ethics teaching of military and humanitarian health care personnel. Learning how to deal with ethically challenging situations shall be learned in a playful way.