Caregiver Game
Board game with theater
Awareness for the challenges of young caregivers, their friends, and the ones receiving care.
One in four children grow up in a household where caregiving is a necessity, yet the struggles faced by young caregivers are often overlooked. Juggling the responsibilities of helping a chronically ill mother, an alcoholic father, or a physically impaired sister can be tough. These young caregivers miss out on significant aspects of their youth, leading to feelings of isolation and misunderstanding.
In the Netherlands, on November 10th, there is a national day for informal care ('Dag van de mantelzorg'). It sheds light on those who voluntarily care for a loved one. In commemoration of this day, we have developed a unique learning experience tailored specifically for young caregivers. Our aim is to raise awareness about their challenges and how to deal with them for both the caregivers, their friends, and the individuals receiving care.
Together with event designer Hanneke van den Broek we came up with a couple of unique activities that take place primarily in school. By participating in these activities, we hope to foster understanding, support, and resilience among young caregivers and their environment.
We knew we had to do something special for this project. The topic is sensitive and young caregivers are in a vulnerable position. We are dealing with a range of emotions, unawareness, and misconceptions. That's why we designed three activities: Improvisational theater, a board game, and a group discusssion. The location for the theater was the school’s auditorium.
Making these activities work well together requires the right timing. We designed the process in a way that allowed students to take it step by step and participate on their own terms. They have time to reflect and process their experience before moving to the next activity.
3-Step Design
What makes this project special, besides the improvisational theater, is that the budget was low. This meant that we had very little time to design and produce the board game. Challenge accepted! In only a couple of weeks, we designed the cooperative board game and produced it ourselves. The visual design is simple but clear, with good color coding and an intuitive layout.
Nice detail: Do you notice how the roles (caregiver, friend, and care receiver) literally grow closer or further away from each other? This simple visual idea immediately conveys the goal of the game. Details make all the difference!
Low Budget, High Impact!
One in four children grow up in a household where caregiving is a necessity, yet the struggles faced by young caregivers are often overlooked. Juggling the responsibilities of helping a chronically ill mother, an alcoholic father, or a physically impaired sister can be tough. These young caregivers miss out on significant aspects of their youth, leading to feelings of isolation and misunderstanding.
In the Netherlands, on November 10th, there is a national day for informal care ('Dag van de mantelzorg'). It sheds light on those who voluntarily care for a loved one. In commemoration of this day, we have developed a unique learning experience tailored specifically for young caregivers. Our aim is to raise awareness about their challenges and how to deal with them for both the caregivers, their friends, and the individuals receiving care.
Together with event designer Hanneke van den Broek we came up with a couple of unique activities that take place primarily in school. By participating in these activities, we hope to foster understanding, support, and resilience among young caregivers and their environment.
Awareness for the challenges of young caregivers, their friends, and the ones receiving care.
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