Ethik der Digitalisierung im Gesundheitswesen

Eine Gamified Learning-Umsetzung des Ethics in Digital Health and Medicine-Curriculums als Lehrkooperation am Institut für Gerontologie

Abstract

The ongoing digitalisation of healthcare poses considerable challenges for Germany, particularly concerning digital literacy and ethical decision-making. Although digital technologies promise greater efficiency and improved patient care, Germany lags significantly behind other countries in this area. The recently introduced electronic patient record (ePA), which was preceded by a long preparation period, exemplifies implementation problems and highlights the need to embed digital and ethical topics in the education and training of healthcare professionals. In response to these challenges the Ethics in Digital Health and Medicine (CEDiHM) curriculum was developed, which addresses the ethical aspects of digitalisation in healthcare in particular. This curriculum is flexible in format and provides content and didactic ideas with the aim of comprehensively preparing students in the healthcare professions for the ethical challenges of a digital healthcare system. The curriculum was piloted in the winter semester of 2024/25 as a collaborative teaching project at the Institute of Gerontology at Heidelberg University. Implemented in a heterogeneous learning group as a game-based approach, the curriculum sustainably promoted both motivation and understanding of the complex content. Evaluation results highlight the didactic value of the game-based format, showing notable gains in motivation, participation and learning outcomes – even for complex topics such as the ethics of digitalisation in the healthcare system. Furthermore, the project underscores the value of co-developing open-access curricula with subject experts from all sub-areas of a discipline. With this approach, lecturers gain time for didactic preparation, while researchers from the respective sub-areas ensure that the content is up to date.