play2PREVENT

01/13/2025

🌟 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡 🌟 – the perfect time to shine a spotlight on the importance of mental health, especially for young people. At 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝟐𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐋𝐚𝐛, we’re dedicated to creating serious games that empower young people to make healthy choices, like prioritizing their mental well-being.

Our newest game, 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒚𝑺𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒕, is designed to empower youth with effective coping strategies and the tools they need to take charge of their mental health. 🧠✨

This month let’s come together to raise awareness about supporting the next generation on their journey to mental wellness. Through innovative digital health interventions like 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒚𝑺𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒕, we can build a future where young people aren’t just surviving—they’re thriving. 💪🎮

Let’s make mental health a priority!

12/17/2024

'𝕋𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕠𝕟 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒𝕟 𝕖𝕩𝕔𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕃𝕒𝕓 𝕦𝕡𝕕𝕒𝕥𝕖!

For the past three years, our Lab has been hard at work evaluating 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑆𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑡 – our innovative serious game designed to prevent opioid misuse and promote mental health in adolescents. 🎮

Grounded in behavior change theories, 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑆𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑡 empowers players with knowledge 🧠 about the dangers of opioids while building critical skills like 🫸🏾refusal and coping techniques. Our goal? Equip young people with the information and tools they need to make healthy decisions!

This study, part of the NIDA Helping to End Addiction Long-Term (HEAL) Initiative, involves 532 high school students from across Connecticut. We’re thrilled to share 𝒘𝙚’𝙧𝒆 𝒏𝙚𝒂𝙧𝒊𝙣𝒈 𝒕𝙝𝒆 𝒇𝙞𝒏𝙞𝒔𝙝 𝙡𝒊𝙣𝒆 – with just under 30 participants left to complete follow-up data collection! 📊🎉

🌟Stay tuned for more updates as we analyze the data and share our findings. Together, we can help youth to 🚫prevent opioid misuse and prioritize their mental well-being!

11/19/2024

🍂 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝟐𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐋𝐚𝐛 🍂

We at the play2PREVENT Lab are celebrating a year of milestones and continued partnerships! 🤝 Together, we’re building a healthier, more resilient future – 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 🎮 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒:

𝐓 - 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞 🏫
Our Lab moved to the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth after 14 amazing years at Yale University! Thank you to all our collaborators at Yale and across Connecticut who supported us. As part of this new chapter, we rebranded our page – follow us for updates!

𝐇 - 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 📢
We were thrilled to share our work at key conferences, including the Society for Prevention Research's 32nd Annual Meeting, SAMHSA's 20th Prevention Day, the 2024 Annual Conference on Adolescent Health, and more!

𝐀 – 𝐀𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒚𝑺𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒕 🎯
Our 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑆𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑡 randomized controlled trial is nearing completion! We’ve engaged 532 high school students across 15 Connecticut high schools to help us test the game’s impact as part of the NIDA Helping to End Addiction Long-Term (HEAL) Initiative.

𝐍 – 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐥 🏆
Our sister partner, start-up company Playbl, received a pitch award from the Dartmouth Innovation Accelerator for Digital Health (DIADH) and was featured in The Boston Globe!

𝐊 – 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 🔗
We’ve grown our collaborations both locally and globally! If you’re a current partner or follower, thank you for joining us on this journey. If you’re new here, we invite you to follow our rebranded page for future opportunities to partner.

𝐒 – 𝐒𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 👦🏽👦🏼👧🏾
Looking ahead, we’re continuing our commitment to designing and evaluating youth-centered digital health tools to promote healthier behaviors and empower the next generation.

Here's to a year of growth & gratitude! 🌟

09/25/2024

Our sister company, Playbl, recently received a funding award from the Dartmouth Innovation Accelerator for Digital through the Center for Technology and Behavioral Health. Check out the write-up about it in the The Boston Globe!!! Congratulations Playbl!!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉

Researchers at Dartmouth believe the intervention is effective enough to fund a company offering video games to schools.

08/30/2024

We're excited to announce that the play2PREVENT Lab has officially transitioned to the Center for Technology and Behavioral Health at Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine! We're looking forward to this new chapter!

At this time, we'd also like to express our gratitude for our lab's 10+ years at Yale University and all of our collaborators at Yale and in schools and organizations across Connecticut!

08/23/2024

This week, we’re celebrating two of our lab members, Alana Metcalf and Lindsey Bonilla, who presented their research at the Yale Postgraduate Research Symposium! Lindsey’s 5-minute talk explored the evaluation of PlaySmart, while Alana shared strategies for increasing adolescent recruitment in digital interventions. Congratulations to them both for their fantastic presentations and contributions to our lab!

08/08/2024

🎮✨ At Play2Prevent, we're passionate about developing and creating videogames to educate and empower young people about healthy behaviors, including the risks of alcohol and substance use. 🌟

Curious about the science behind alcohol's impact on your body? 🧠🍷 Check out this episode from the Huberman Lab Podcast, where Stanford neurobiology professor Andrew Huberman dives deep into the physiological effects of alcohol on the brain and body. It’s a must-listen for anyone looking to understand how their choices affect their health!

https://youtu.be/DkS1pkKpILY?si=-SQtO8NcWJrwiNoC

In this episode, I discuss the physiological effects that drinking alcohol has on the brain and body at different levels of consumption and over time. I also...

07/12/2024

Last week, one of our lab members, Alana Metcalf, presented at Let’s Talk Research. LTR is a monthly seminar organized by the Yale Postgraduate Research Association where PGA’s can present their research happening in their lab. As part of her presentation, Alana discussed how the play2PREVENT Lab draws on behavior change theories when developing serious video games to successfully promote healthy behaviors in adolescents.

06/27/2024

Looking for tools to teach teens about HIV testing, prevention, & more this National HIV Testing Day? Check out our games PlayTest! and PlayForward: Elm City Stories!

🎮Find more information & request access here: https://playbl.com/our-games/

06/27/2024

Today is National HIV Testing Day! Check out these resources:

CDC Let’s Stop HIV Together Campaign: https://www.cdc.gov/stophivtogether/index.html
Info about Testing: https://www.cdc.gov/stophivtogether/hiv-testing/index.html

Find Testing Near You (including free or low-cost testing clinics): https://gettested.cdc.gov/
En Español: https://www.cdc.gov/stophivtogether/spanish/hiv-testing/index.html

Our Games PlayTest! and PlayForward: https://playbl.com/our-games/

06/21/2024

Our team recently kicked off summer 2024 by attending the Future Prevention Leaders Conference at Southern Connecticut State University! During this event, which was organized by The Governor's Prevention Partnership, student attendees had the opportunity to test out our opioid misuse prevention game PlaySmart! .

06/13/2024

Last week, 2 of our lab members, Selam Bellete & Lindsey Bonilla, presented at Let’s Talk Research, a monthly seminar organized by the Yale Postgraduate Research Association. As part of their presentation, they discussed how the play2PREVENT Lab designs digital health games.