Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Serious Games
Date Submitted: May 26, 2023
Date Accepted: Aug 7, 2023
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Parents' perceptions of the MedSMA℞T: Adventures in PharmaCity serious game designed to educate families on prescription opioid safety: a qualitative study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Opioid misuse is a pervasive, worsening problem that affects the health of people throughout the United States, including adolescents. There are few adolescent-focused interventions designed to educate them about opioid medication safety. MedSMA℞T: Adventures in PharmaCity is a serious educational video game that teaches parents and their youth about safe opioid practices.
Objective:
Given the importance of parental influence in adolescent medication behaviors, the aim of this study was to elucidate parent’s perceptions and acceptance of MedSMA℞T: Adventures in PharmaCity and for its potential use by parents and their adolescents.
Methods:
Parents of adolescents aged 12 to 18 years who live in the United States were recruited from April through October 2021 via Qualtrics research panels, social media, email listservs, and snowball sampling. Study participants to played MedSMA℞T: Adventures in PharmaCity for 30 minutes then participated in a post-game interview. Interview transcripts were coded using content and thematic analysis by study team members to identify major themes and subthemes from the data.
Results:
Parent participants (N=67) played MedSMA℞T: Adventures in PharmaCity and completed a post-game interview. Participants had positive reactions to the game characters and scenes depicted in MedSMA℞T: Adventures in PharmaCity and stated they were realistic for adolescents. Significant difficulties with gameplay navigation were reported, as well as a slow game pace. The game reinforced existing knowledge for participants, though many reported a new awareness of the need to store opioid medications in a locked area and the availability of medication disposal drop boxes at pharmacies. Parents suggested that the game would be a useful tool to foster conversation with their adolescents about opioid medication safety. Participants stated that they would recommend the game for future use by families and youth in various healthcare and non-healthcare settings.
Conclusions:
The use of a tailored serious game is a novel, engaging tool to educate adolescents on opioid safety. MedSMA℞T: Adventures in PharmaCity can be used as a tool for parents and adolescents to facilitate meaningful dialogue about safe and appropriate opioid use.
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