The Skin Games

NLR Skin Games

Skin diseases are the 4th leading cause of global nonfatal disease burden and can lead to disabilities, stigmatization and discrimination. As many Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) present with skin signs and symptoms, the World Health Organization promotes an integrated skin screening approach to enable early diagnosis and treatment. This is a challenge in poor resource settings, where specialized dermatological health staff is lacking. New innovative approaches are needed to foster capacity building amongst peripheral health workers, enabling them to recognize and manage skin diseases including skin NTDs.

NLR invented the Skin Games in 2019 to train and support peripheral health workers involved in skin disease screening activities. The games are an interactive addition to currently existing health worker’s trainings methods. The material consists of a memory game and flashcards. The memory game is aimed to teach health workers in recognizing individual symptoms. The flashcards combine these symptoms into case studies, and train the health worker to make the correct diagnosis.

NLR thinks that learning should not only be one-way, with the health staff on the receiving end. Rather, NLR would like health workers to interact with each other and with the trainers, in order to increase learning. A ‘fun’ and active learning method helps to keep health workers motivated and engaged.  The Skin Games were developed in collaboration with medical doctors and an educational specialist. They are easy to use, have a friendly design and can be used anywhere, anytime. Their availability is not dependent on an internet connection or power sources. They do not require any knowledge of computer devices.

The games can be downloaded at the bottom of this page. 

The games align with existing diagnostic tools (dermatological guidelines, NLR SkinApp), which can also be used by health staff when diagnosing skin diseases. The memory game and the flashcards can be complementary to other training programmes, or can be used as individual training material.

The first version of the games was funded by EDCTP/EU, LRI and NLR, as part of the PEP4LEP research project on integrated skin screening and chemoprophylaxis for leprosy.

The DIY versions of the Skin Games can be downloaded below. You can print them yourself and take them anywhere for training purposes, or as resource material.

The Skin Games are also available in Portuguese – the translation was supported by Bridges to Development.

Have fun!