Who We Are
Improving and sustaining the health and well-being of young people
Mission
Our mission is to establish and grow a repository for evidence-based videogame interventions and educational materials geared toward risk prevention, health and wellness promotion, and social intelligence in children, teens and young adults. Our objective is to serve as a resource for teens, parents, schools, communities, and other stakeholders with the common goal of improving and sustaining the health and well-being of young people.
Our lab brings together a “Collective Brain” of leaders in their respective fields, including behavioral and physician scientists, youth, community leaders, educators, serious and commercial video game designers and developers, and community-based organizations to serve as a growing resource for videogame interventions directed at prevention and health promotion. Our games focus on issues and behaviors including HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, substance use, unintended pregnancy, obesity, unsafe driving, gambling, youth violence, bullying, and other conditions and behaviors that negatively impact the lives of young people.
Background
Over 13 years ago, with funding from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)/NIH, the play2PREVENT® (p2P) Lab was founded. The p2P Lab focuses on the use of “play,” in the form of videogame play, for the purposes of health and wellness promotion, risk reduction, social good, and educational interventions. We harness videogame technology to create engaging and effective methods to convey information and teach skills that lead to behavior change, translating to healthier and safer lives.
The p2P Lab is a member of the White House’s Academic Consortium for Games for Impact and one of the original charter members of the Higher Education Video Game Alliance (HEVGA). We build collaborations and partnerships between researchers, educators, commercial game developers, and community-based organizations with the goal of developing and rigorously testing innovative, effective, and targeted game interventions to improve the health and well-being of youth and young adults.