Presentation at Games for Health Europe Conference 2014

1. Tunnel Tail: A New Approach to Prevention
Drug Strategies
For more information please contact:
drugstrategies@gmail.com
(415) 638-6600

2. Drug and Alcohol Education: The Problem
•In 2013,2.2 millionU.S. children ages 12-17 were current drug users.
•The 2013 lifetime prevalence of illicit drug use among 8th-12thgraders in the United States was 35.8%.

5. Tunnel Tail: Study Design
Short-Play Group Long-Play Group
Pre-gameplay question Pre-Gameplay question
One 20-minute play session One 20-minute play session
Wait at least 4 hours
Second 20-minute play session
Survey Questions 1-10 Survey Questions 1-10
Post-gameplay question Post-gameplay question

6. Tunnel Tail: Positive Outcomes
14%
86%
No change
Positive change
86%of the sample exhibited at least one positive change in responses between the pre-and post- gameplay questions.

7. Tunnel Tail: In-Game Dialogue
177
35
30
4
0
50
100
150
200
250
Remember
Didn't remember
No positive change
Positive change
Number of respondents

8. Tunnel Tail was seen as a game rather than an educational exercise
51
15
36
34
1
33
62
64
18
38
31
9
51
84
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
Fun
Hard
Boring
Exciting
Educational
Addictive
Interesting
Short-play
Long-play
Number of respondents

9. Tunnel Tail: Conclusions
There is great potential in gaming as an alternative method of health education and drug prevention
More rigorous studies are necessary to further determine the effectiveness of game apps as drug prevention tools

10. References
Johnston, L. D., O’Malley, P. M., Miech, R. A., Bachman, J. G., & Schulenberg, J. E. (2014). Monitoring the Future national results on drug use: 1975-2013: Overview, Key Findings on Adolescent Drug Use. Ann Arbor: Institute for Social Research, The University of Michigan. http://www.monitoringthefuture.org/pubs/monographs/mtf- overview2013.pdf
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Results from the 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National Findings, NSDUH Series H-48, HHS Publication No. (SMA) 14-4863. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2014. http://www.samhsa.gov/data/NSDUH/2013SummNatFindDetTables/NationalFindings/NSDUHresults2013.pdf