Prevention education of youth is a challenging field, with little evidence on effectiveness. The love of games on phones and iPads is evident in our current society. This application is in support of the development of an alcohol, tobacco and drug prevention game targeted at youth. It will be available for download through the iTunes App store. Other alcohol and drug prevention games are more straight education and scenario-based. In contrast, this project will develop a fun, interactive prototype of a game app that includes prevention messages and has links to help, but will also be fun to play. This is an innovative concept with no apps found that are similar in nature. Through a partnership with a local school district, the game will be downloaded to district-purchased iPads that the students take home. Data will be collected to evaluate the effectiveness of this intervention based on the choices the user makes on the game. Based on those results, the gaming app can be further developed and widely distributed.
Project Details
Center for Addiction and Recovery Studies
Sherry Bobo