Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 May 6:6:100400.
doi: 10.1016/j.pecinn.2025.100400. eCollection 2025 Jun.

Let's talk about death, dying, and what matters most to you in life: Pretest and piloting of a translated and adapted conversation game

Julia Jaschke  1 , Sara Söling  1 , Juliane Köberlein-Neu  1
Affiliations

Let's talk about death, dying, and what matters most to you in life: Pretest and piloting of a translated and adapted conversation game

Julia Jaschke et al. PEC Innov. .

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to pretest and pilot the German version of the Hello conversation game (German: Hey du) to assess its comprehensibility and acceptability. Like the original, Hey du is designed as a low-threshold method to empower people of almost all ages and health conditions to engage in advance care planning (ACP), particularly targeting young/healthy people for whom there are currently few or no ACP programmes.

Methods: The conversation game was systematically translated into German using the TRAPD process and cognitively pretested in 12 interviews. Subsequently, two observational studies were conducted: Hey du was used in 1) a nursing school (n = 16) and 2) with groups of family and friends (n = 50). After completing the game, participants were surveyed regarding the game's acceptability and comprehensibility.

Results: The results of the cognitive pretest and the observational studies show that the conversation game was acceptable and comprehensible in both settings. Most of the participants (>92 %) reported that Hey du helped them come to terms with their own wishes and preferences for medical and nursing care and that they felt comfortable playing the game.

Conclusion: Hey du has the potential to motivate and empower people to deal with ACP.

Innovation: Hey du is the first scientifically supported gamification approach in Germany to introduce ACP to people for whom no systematic ACP programs exist. The game provides a safe forum for people of almost all ages and health conditions to discuss their values regarding life, death, dying and what matters most.

Keywords: Acceptability; Advance care planning; Comprehensibility; Gamification.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Acceptability of Hey du.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Wallace C.L. Family communication and decision making at the end of life: a literature review. Palliat Support Care. 2015;13:815–825. doi: 10.1017/S1478951514000388. - DOI - PubMed
    1. National Academies Press (US) 2015 Mar 19. Dying in America: Improving quality and honoring individual preferences near the end of life. Washington (DC) - PubMed
    1. Puerto G., Chiriboga G., DeSanto-Madeya S., et al. Advance care planning for Spanish-language speakers: patient, family, and interpreter perspectives. J Appl Gerontol. 2023;42:1840–1849. doi: 10.1177/07334648231156864. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sudore R.L., Lum H.D., You J.J., et al. Defining advance care planning for adults: a consensus definition from a multidisciplinary Delphi panel. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2017;53:821–832.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2016.12.331. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tripken J.L., Elrod C.S. Young adults’ perspectives on advance care planning. Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2018;35:627–634. doi: 10.1177/1049909117727456. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources