JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Adolescents in North America are affected severely by the opioid crisis, yet there are limited educational resources for educating teens about prescription opioid safety and misuse. Empirical literature lacks evidence regarding teen education about prescription opioid safety through serious games and lacks conceptual models and frameworks to guide the process of game development for this purpose.

Objective:

The aim of this project was to conceptualize and design a serious game prototype to teach teens about prescription opioid safety and to propose a conceptual framework for developing a serious game to educate youth about safe and responsible use of prescription opioids.

Methods:

Initial project steps comprised the formulation of an integrated conceptual framework that included factors from health behavior models and game development models. This was followed by the formal process of serious game development, which resulted in a game prototype. Assessment of the game prototype was obtained through group discussions, individual interviews, and questionnaires with adolescents following gameplay. Field notes were used to keep track of responses from group discussions. Content and thematic analysis were used to analyze field notes and open-ended questionnaire responses, which were then used to refine the game prototype.

Results:

A total of 10 playtests with 484 adolescents and emerging young adults (AYA) in community settings such as middle schools, high schools, and colleges were conducted by the project team between March and June 2019. AYA provided feedback on the initial game prototype using questionnaires administered through Qualtrics or in-person on paper. Preliminary feedback suggested that the teens found the game objectives, outcomes, and design appealing. Overall, the game was perceived as realistic and the learning outcomes seemed achievable. Suggestions for improvement included need for additional direction on gameplay, clearer instructions, concise dialogue, and reduced technical problems in gameplay.

Conclusions:

We propose a conceptual framework for developing a serious game prototype to educate youth about prescription opioid safety. The project utilized a theory-driven conceptual framework for development of a serious game targeting adolescent opioid misuse prevention and garnered preliminary feedback on the game to improve quality of game play and the prototype. Feedback through informal assessments in community settings suggest that youth and their families were interested in a game-based approach to learning about prescription opioid safety in homes and schools. Next steps include modifications to the game prototype based on community-based feedback, integrating learning analytics to track players in-game behaviors, and formal testing of the final prototype.