+CLICK, a game geared towards HIV- positive youth, was developed by several researchers at The University of Texas School of Public Health. HIV-positive youth at a Texas Children’s Hospital clinic assessed the game’s usability and credibility. The results of the study by Christine Markham, Ph.D., and Ross Shegog, Ph.D., were published in the May 2009 issue of AIDS Care.

The game, which aims to to reduce secondary transmission of the virus, replicates a shopping mall and players travel through lessons on abstinence, condoms, and contraception. The game also includes video clips from experts and peers who are also HIV-positive. The game is designed to target four behaviors:

• choosing not to have sex
• disclosing HIV status to a potential partner
• using condoms correctly and consistently
• using an effective method of birth control along with condoms.

Only a prototype of the game was used for the study as it is still in its last stages of development. +CLICK is tentatively scheduled to be available to the public in late 2009, and “in addition, the research team is working to create a similar web-based game that will focus on medication adherence for HIV-positive youth.”

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Red Orbit