Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Health Healthcare Centers in Schools received a $5,000 award to implement PlaySmart at a local Baton Rouge high school. Healthcare Centers in Schools will be one of 15 sites nationwide to participate in this program through a recent partnership with Yale Center for Health & Learning Games, funded by the National Institutes of Health.
PlaySmart is a choose-your-own adventure videogame designed to teach teens about opioid misuse and prevention and to promote mental health in adolescents, ages 16-19. Over eight hours, students pursue different storylines. Each scenario mimics real-life and is designed to facilitate discussion with trained adults to learn about opioid abuse.
"This funding allows Our Lady of the Lake Children's Health Healthcare Centers in Schools to expand our already robust programming and the impact we are able to make on the students and families in East Baton Rouge Parish" said Kristen Gradney, senior director, Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Health Healthcare Centers in Schools.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Louisiana has one of the highest rates in the country of teenagers who took a prescription pain medication without a doctor’s prescription or differently from how they were instructed.
“Engaging teenagers through videogames has the potential to be an excellent and effective tool to educate kids about the dangers of risk-taking behavior” says Sylvia Sutton, MD, pediatrician and medical director, Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Health Healthcare Centers in Schools. “We know that teens with substance use disorders experience higher rates of physical and mental illnesses and diminished overall health and well-being.”
Healthcare Centers in Schools, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporation and a part of Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Health, has provided medical services to students attending East Baton Rouge Parish Public Schools since 1987. Beginning with one clinic at Westdale Middle School and now operating seven clinics across the school system, the organization now serves more than 41,000 students in greater Baton Rouge each year.
For more information on the Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Health Healthcare Centers in Schools partnership, visit https://ololchildrens.org/our-network/clinical-specialties/healthcare-centers-in-schools/.