Encouraging HIV testing in teens through video games
Encouraging HIV testing in teens through video games
Encouraging HIV testing in teens through video games
By Dr. Prajakta Banik
October 13, 2023
Summary
Trial of a serious video game for HIV testing and counseling.
Only 9 percent of high school students in the U.S. have been tested for HIV. This is because of reasons like not getting good sex education, facing social and economic challenges, and the stigma and wrong beliefs about HIV testing.
To tackle these misunderstandings and encourage teenagers to get HIV testing and counseling, Dr. Fiellin and a team of researchers from Yale University conducted a trial using a video game called PlayTest! It's designed to address the low rates of HIV testing and counseling among adolescents.
PlayTest! is an improved version of an earlier video game called PlayForward, initially made for 11- to 14-year-olds to teach HIV prevention.
Fiellin said, "We knew that once schools closed, kids would not have access to their school-based health centers, so they could not ask for testing there. Nobody was going to routinely go to a clinic during the first six months of the pandemic. So, based on the literature, we had to modify our primary outcome not to be actual HIV testing, but attitudes around HIV testing."
The study's findings suggest that educational video game interventions like PlayTest! have the potential to impact teenagers' attitudes regarding HIV counseling and testing positively.
By harnessing the engaging nature of video games, misconceptions surrounding HIV can be addressed and awareness raised, motivating teenagers to seek testing and counseling services.
Reference
Banik, P. (2023, October 13). Encouraging HIV testing in teens through video games. Tech Explorist. https://www.techexplorist.com/encouraging-hiv-testing-teens-video-games/75493/