Quest for the

Code® :

A Case Study

Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation

A nonprofit that helps children and their families cope with the social, emotional and medical aspects of chronic and life threatening medical conditions.

What do we do?

• Distract children from their pain, fear and isolation

• Teach children to better manage and cope with their illness and treatment

• Empower children to address the social, emotional, and medical aspects of living with a serious illness

• Connect children and families with others who face similar challenges

• Give families a sense of hope for their lives and future

Lessons Learned• Project must immediately address key psychosocial

issues and capture kids’ attention• Project must be well defined before any production

begins• Choose the right developer• Celebrities add credibility• Need a long term plan & money to cover long term

plan• Cover yourself legally • Partner & collaborate

Case Study – Quest for the Code

Illustrate Starlight’s process:

• Needs Assessment• Development• Production• Market research • Evaluation • Feedback loop

Should we do Asthma?

• Bubbled up from healthcare professionals

• Identify core issue• Is there a gap?• Are we the right

organization to address the gap?

• Is there long term funding and a viable dissemination plan?

Development Process

• Conduct needs assessment

• Identify partners• Identify goals and

objectives• Develop program content • Identify platform • Define creative approach • Develop dissemination

strategy

Development Process Continued

• Develop long term budget

• Start fundraising• Once funding secured, begin production

• Begin Research• Launch

Quest for the Code Goals

Control symptoms Reduce exacerbations Improve management

behaviors Develop decision-making

and self management skills

Increase self-esteem and self-efficacy

Improve adherence

Results

• More than 1.5mm kids have played the game to date

• Research found improved asthma-related knowledge, self-efficacy, child responsibility, adherence and symptoms.

• Kids liked playing the game, including the questions/challenges and the humor of the game (e.g., the cockroaches in Robo Roach). Boys liked the action elements like shooting baskets, or fighting the strong and evil Mucus Airgon.