Qualitative Evaluation of the Relevance and Acceptability of a Web-Based HIV Prevention Game for Rural Adolescents

Abstract

African Americans in the rural Southern United States continue to experience disproportionate increases in new HIV/AIDS infections. Electronic gaming interventions hold promise but the use of HIV prevention games is limited. The purpose of this study was to assess the acceptability and relevance of a web-based HIV prevention game for African American rural adolescents. Findings from focus groups conducted with 42 participants suggested that the game was educational and somewhat entertaining but lacking in real-life scenarios and player-control. Findings are congruent with self-efficacy literature and constructivist approaches to learning. Findings have implications for gaming intervention development and further research.

Design Features Associated with User Engagement in Digital Games for Healthy Lifestyle Promotion in Youth: A Systematic Review of Qualitative and Quantitative Studies

“…80 One study mentioned a preference for a fit between the characters and the health topic in the game. 74 Characters, however, seemed to be less important for engagement than the storyline, 77 which was considered as very important. 60,67,77,83 Having a narrative in the game was preferred to a nonnarrative game.…”

“…66 Youth generally preferred to have different levels of challenges, [67][68][69] either by having several side missions, 60,70,71 levels of increasing difficulty level, 72 or difficulty level tailored by age. 73,74 When a challenge was met, children experienced a sense of mastery, but they disliked having to keep trying unsuccessfully. 73 Unexpected traps and obstacles were considered to make a challenge even more fun.…”

Game-Based Health Education: The Case of Hexacago Health Academy

“…HHA follows up on a longstanding tradition of using game-based interventions for youth health education, while adding a layer of participatory design (Maclachlan et al, 1997;Beale et al, 2007;Bochennek et al, 2007;van der Stege et al, 2010;Miller et al, 2013;Datta, et al, 2015;Enah, et al, 2015;Hieftje and Fiellin, 2015;Kayali, et al, 2015;Pendergrass, et al, 2016;van der Stege, et al, 2016;Cates et al, 2017). Games are a familiar and attractive cultural medium to youth in the U.S., especially in their digital form-72% of teenagers play video games online or on their phones, a number that is somewhat higher (83%) among Black teenagers (Lenhart et al, 2008).…”

The experimental analysis of problematic video gaming and cognitive skills: A systematic review

“…Furthermore, videogames have been used as a tool to improve people's lives educationally [14,15] and therapeutically [16,17], as well as successfully in health prevention programs for drug use and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) [18,19].…”