Lumi Nova: an implementation study

A therapeutic mobile game to help 7-12 year olds learn to self-manage their fears & worries

 

Lumi Nova: Tales of Courage provides a fun, safe and engaging way for children and young people to tackle their worries head on so they can build resilience, gain confidence and thrive.

 

 

What is Lumi Nova?

Lumi Nova: Tales of Courage’ enables children to self-manage their fears, worries and anxiety. Trying it out will not affect your access to specialist support.

 

Lumi Nova is highly evidenced and is based on ‘exposure therapy’ (proven to be the most effective part of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or CBT) which involves setting goals, breaking down fears into manageable steps and attempting these in a gradual way to build confidence and manage anxiety.

 

Lumi Nova has several goals relating to different types of anxieties to choose from, and also includes psychoeducation which helps children understand the link between their thoughts, feelings and behaviours.

 

Who are BfB Labs?

Founded in 2015, BFB Labs develops digital interventions designed to improve the mental health of children and young people.

 

They do this by combining evidenced therapeutics with immersive gaming. BfB Labs have developed a mobile immersive game called Lumi Nova which will be used in this research. To read more about BfB Labs and their work, visit their website at https://www.bfb-labs.com/

 

Case Study - Maisie’s Story on BBC Breakfast

If you are interested in taking part contact:  

Niamh Bolton - niamh.bolton@gmmh.nhs.uk

 

What is the purpose of the research?

This research aims to optimise the implementation of Lumi Nova for economically disadvantaged children.

 

To achieve this, we will:   

• Ask children to use Lumi Nova. 
• Look at how children have used and engaged with it to understand if Lumi Nova has been useful for them. 
• Ask parents/guardians to respond to short questionnaires (reminder sent via SMS text messages) so that we can understand if there are any positive changes as a result of using Lumi Nova. 
• Collect interview data to explore the barriers and enablers to using the game, and if children, their parents/guardians and their clinical teams felt that Lumi Nova was useful. 
• Conduct co-design workshops with children to help refine Lumi Nova to meet the needs of economically disadvantaged children.

 

Your child has been asked to take part because they are aged 7-12 years and they have been experiencing feelings of anxiety.

 

Video for - Parents/Guardians

Video for - Children

What happens when I sign up?

1. You will receive an SMS with a short survey link
2. On completion, you’ll receive another SMS with your game key (please don’t lose this, and keep it secret)
3. Download the app on a mobile phone or tablet that your child has regular access to and unlock it with your game key
4. Shortlist 3 goals together with your child for them to work on
5. Hand the device over to your child - they can start playing
6. Later on, you’ll need to unlock and help your child complete real-world challenges;

• Each goal is broken down into several small steps to help your child achieve it successfully
• The first few challenges (imagine, draw, photos, and videos) happen in the app, while the rest happen outside the app (in real life)
• They will need your support with the real-life challenges

 

You can visit an online resource for parents/guardians - www.luminova.app - anytime to find out more, see goals and challenges

 

We ask that you complete a short questionnaire once a week to let us know how your child is feeling. You may be asked to join an interview to reflect on your child’s involvement in the project. The interview is entirely voluntary, and you do not need to participate in the interview for your child to take part in the study.

 

If you are interested in taking part contact:

Niamh Bolton - niamh.bolton@gmmh.nhs.uk

What is the purpose of the research?

Lumi Nova is a mobile game which aims to support children and young people to build lifelong skills to manage worries. This research aims to optimise the implementation of Lumi Nova for economically disadvantaged children.

 

To achieve this, we will:

• Ask children to use the Lumi Nova game
• Look at how children have used and engaged with the game to understand if the game has been interesting and useful for them
• Ask parents/guardians to respond to short questionnaires (reminder sent via SMS text messages) so that we can understand what motivates and engages children to use the app and which factors might influence their outcomes.
• Collect interview data to explore the barriers and enablers to using the game, and if children, their parents/guardians and their clinical teams felt that the game was useful.
• Conduct co-design workshops with children to help refine Lumi Nova to meet the needs of economically disadvantaged children.

 

You have been asked to take part as you are a service delivery manager at GMMH, or you work with one of the school’s teams who are taking part in this research.

 

What would your involvement be?

What would you be asked to do if you took part? 

Participate in an interview to discuss implementation barriers and enablers, and to explore any unintended consequences of implementing Lumi Nova; this will take no longer than 60 minutes.

 

The interview and the workshops will take place online using video calling, for example we might use Zoom or MS Teams.

 

Will I be compensated for taking part?

We will not be able to pay you for taking part in this research.  We hope that engaging with the game will help inform whether and how Lumi Nova is used to support children who experience anxiety.

 

What happens if you do not want to take part or if you change your mind?

It is up to you to decide whether or not to take part.  If you would like to take part, please contact the researcher, Niamh Bolton Niamh.Bolton@gmmh.nhs.uk.

If you do decide to take part, you will be given an information sheet to keep and you will be asked to sign a consent form. If you decide to take part, you are still free to withdraw at any time without giving a reason and without detriment to yourself. Any data that has already been collected before withdrawal will still be used, and all data will be anonymised before the end of the study. This does not affect your data protection rights. If you decide not to take part, you do not need to do anything further.

 

Useful Links

Lumi Nova Parent/Guardian Website - https://luminova.app/  

BfB Labs Website - https://www.bfb-labs.com/luminova

 

If you are interested in taking part contact:

Niamh Bolton - niamh.bolton@gmmh.nhs.uk