Design of a Mobile Game Application to Support Hand Rehabilitation of Stroke Patients in Indonesia

Abstract

Stroke is a leading cause of death in Indonesia. A stroke can paralyze multiple parts of an individual’s body, including the hand. While therapy for stroke rehabilitation should be done repetitively over a long period of time, some stroke patients do not have adequate access to conduct therapy in a rehabilitation centre. Therefore, this research focuses on the design of a mobile game application as an alternative therapy to support hand rehabilitation for stroke patients. Our research applied the interaction design lifecycle model, which consists of the process of identifying the needs, designing the concept based on user needs, building a prototype based on the design concept, and evaluating the prototype with stroke patients, as the potential users, and a doctor who is an expert in stroke rehabilitation. The evaluation results show that stroke patients can interact well with the designed mobile game application, and they felt that the game was a good exercise tool for them to use as part of their stroke therapy.