The first fieldwork mission of PlayersAll was completed today. The study was approved by the Ethics and Deontology Committee (CEDIC) of the School of Psychology and Life Sciences of Lusófona University.

A team of project grantees led by Dr. Phil Lopes made the trip to the Polytechnic Institute of Beja, where teachers and 4th year occupational therapy students with valuable experience in the field of rehabilitation tried out the game and provided crucial feedback. The grantees ran rreliminary test sessions of the Village Druid game’s prototype #1 and a focus group. This data will now be processed (transcription, coding).

We are also developing an environment for therapists to intervene in the patient’s session when using the game, simultaneous with the rest of the game design and development together with specially adapted observation grids and other instruments for studying the players and the development context.

This first contact with therapists is highly relevant to the process of ensuring the therapeutic validity of the project, and to stay in touch with the desires and preferences of a relevant stakeholder group. We would like to thank Dr. Susana Pestana from the IP Beja for her availability and indispensable help.

This Beja mission showed the scientific curiosity, adaptability and capacity for learning of PlayersAll’s R1 first stage researchers Inês Nunes and Pedro M. A. Fernandes. They did an excellent job in the field, and demonstrated great sensitivity, creativity, and insight.