Using a cooperative board game to examine One Health teamwork functions under pressure
4 affiliations
- 1Fundamental and Applied Research for Animal and Health (FARAH), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège
- 2Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Logopaedics and Educational Sciences, Psychology of Groups and Organizations, University of Liège
- 3Groupe de Recherche en Épidémiologie des Zoonoses et Santé Publique (GREZOSP)
- 4Department of Public Health Science, Faculty of Medicine, University of Liège
Abstract
Health threats at the human–animal–environment interface demand joint decisions across public health, veterinary, and environmental agencies, yet institutional mandates and siloed data systems frequently hinder effective coordination. While One Health frameworks identify enabling functions such as communication, collaboration, coordination, and capacity building, these routines are often managed implicitly during stable periods but become fragile during crisis. Educational curricula often rely on broad competency domains that provide limited guidance on the observable behaviors required to maintain these functions as conditions shift from routine to emergency response. To address this gap, this study uses a cooperative board game as a time‑limited activity that creates interdependence and moments of escalating pressure to expose how stable teamwork functions, degrades, or adapts under threat. The seminar was refined across four annual cohorts of the programme between 2020 and 2023. The analyzed dataset comes from the 2023 cohort of 13 multidisciplinary practitioners, studied across three consecutive play sessions. A hybrid deductive–inductive thematic analysis of gameplay and structured debrief discussions describes how learners enact and articulate specific routines. These descriptions include how they resequenced steps, checked rule requirements, and paused briefly to regain a shared understanding of the evolving situation. The findings show how time‑limited tasks draw attention to tensions between immediate containment actions and longer‑term progress toward shared objectives. The study proposes that structured game activities offer a reproducible environment for learners to notice and describe teamwork behaviors relevant to One Health training and assessment.
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BibTeX
@article{irabor2026using,
title = {{Using a cooperative board game to examine One Health teamwork functions under pressure}},
author = {Thomas-Julian Omoijade Irabor and Caroline De Backer and Elise Seghers and Véronique Jans and Peegdsom Simplice Assomption Yameogo and Olivier Kavulikirwa Kambere and Tiber Manfredini and Nicolas Antoine-Moussiaux},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1038/s41598-026-63909-x},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-63909-x},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Using a cooperative board game to examine One Health teamwork functions under pressure
AU - Thomas-Julian Omoijade Irabor
AU - Caroline De Backer
AU - Elise Seghers
AU - Véronique Jans
AU - Peegdsom Simplice Assomption Yameogo
AU - Olivier Kavulikirwa Kambere
AU - Tiber Manfredini
AU - Nicolas Antoine-Moussiaux
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/01
JO - Scientific Reports
DO - 10.1038/s41598-026-63909-x
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-63909-x
AB - Health threats at the human–animal–environment interface demand joint decisions across public health, veterinary, and environmental agencies, yet institutional mandates and siloed data systems frequently hinder effective coordination. While One Health frameworks identify enabling functions such as communication, collaboration, coordination, and capacity building, these routines are often managed implicitly during stable periods but become fragile during crisis. Educational curricula often rely on broad competency domains that provide limited guidance on the observable behaviors required to maintain these functions as conditions shift from routine to emergency response. To address this gap, this study uses a cooperative board game as a time‑limited activity that creates interdependence and moments of escalating pressure to expose how stable teamwork functions, degrades, or adapts under threat. The seminar was refined across four annual cohorts of the programme between 2020 and 2023. The analyzed dataset comes from the 2023 cohort of 13 multidisciplinary practitioners, studied across three consecutive play sessions. A hybrid deductive–inductive thematic analysis of gameplay and structured debrief discussions describes how learners enact and articulate specific routines. These descriptions include how they resequenced steps, checked rule requirements, and paused briefly to regain a shared understanding of the evolving situation. The findings show how time‑limited tasks draw attention to tensions between immediate containment actions and longer‑term progress toward shared objectives. The study proposes that structured game activities offer a reproducible environment for learners to notice and describe teamwork behaviors relevant to One Health training and assessment.
SN - 2045-2322
ER -