Journal of Community & Public Health Nursing
Open Access

Abstract

Several researches agree with our studies that fertility awareness in Finland is relatively low, especially among males. As a part of “Healthy Pregnancy, Good Delivery” project we built a playful, digital Matchmaker game in order to awaken fertility awareness. While piloting it, we found out that young adults, especially females over 25 years living in relationship, were very interested in the game. According to the feedback, this game was not only fun to play, but furthermore it became serious resource for them. The game is very simple to play. The player can either choose readymade male and female characters or create one’s own and partner’s profile. Character attributes, which the player needs to select, are age, dietary choices, BMI, exercise, smoking, use of alcohol and drugs and if they have had sexually transmitted diseases. As a result of the game the player gets a personal evaluation for the possibility of the chosen couple to get a baby and what factors might explain why it is not easy for them to get pregnant and what to do to improve the possibilities. The game is available in Finnish and English. In our oral presentation, we will talk about the game and show how to play it. The game is based on latest reproductive health research. The project “Healthy Pregnancy, Good Delivery” was funded by Ministry of Social Affairs and Health of Finland.

Biography

Jouni Tuomi is RN and PHN. He has completed his PhD from Jyväskylä University 1997. He has worked in different Universities and Universities of Applied Sciences in Finland. He is a principal lecturer in Health Promotion and project manager in “Working in all ages” and “Wise Choises - Preconception Health Development among Youths and Young Adults” (2018-2020) in Tampere University of Applied Sciences. He has published several papers in Finnish and English and is an author of several books as well as co-editor over 10 books in Finnish in different fields.

E-mail: jouni.tuomi@tamk.fi