Several years ago, two women who care deeply about supporting the emotional needs of children facing severe illness or disability collaborated on a book. Digging Deep: A Journal for Young People Facing Health Challenges is geared to helping kids process their hopes and fears through keeping a journal. (Read my 2014 review of it here.)

Now there is a new Digging Deep project, with an exciting opportunity for young people age 13-21. Not only is it fun, the kids will get compensated for participating.

The Digging Deep team is building a mobile game which will help teens facing serious health issues express their emotions and build resilience in face of their challenges.

They are conducting research with teenagers to get feedback on game design and preferences. They want “teen experts” to complete a series of online surveys and to test out the game once developed.

Here’s what the Digging Deep website says:

Digging Deep Mobile Game

We are creating a mobile game to help teens facing serious or chronic health issues and we need your help! Are you interested?

You will receive online surveys every two weeks. Answering will take about 20 minutes and you will receive a voucher for $15 US.

What we need from you: Your email address, your full name, your birthday and the town you live in.

What we need from your parents: A signed permission form.

To sign up, please send info and permission to Kevyn Eva Norton at kevyneva@diggingdeep.org

We’ll send email updates with glimpses of ‘the making of the game’ so you’ll know how we use your feedback along the way!

Click here for the Digging Deep website.

TOUCHED BY LYME is written by Dorothy Kupcha Leland, LymeDisease.org’s VP for Education and Outreach. She is co-author of When Your Child Has Lyme Disease: A Parent’s Survival Guide. Contact her at dleland@lymedisease.org.