Experimenting with a Prototype Interactive Narrative Game to Improve Knowledge and Beliefs for the HPV Vaccine

Narratives can have a powerful impact on our health-related beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine can protect against human papillomavirus that leads to different types of cancers. However, HPV vaccination rates are low. This study explored the effectiveness of a narrative-based interactive game about the HPV vaccines as a method to communicate knowledge and perhaps create behavioral outcomes. We developed a serious storytelling game called Vaccination Vacation inspired by personal narratives of individuals who were impacted by the HPV. We tested the game using a randomized control study of 99 adult participants and compared the HPV knowledge and vaccine beliefs of the Gamer Group (who played the game, n = 44) and the Reader group (who read a vaccine information sheet, n = 55). We also evaluated the usability of the game. In addition to high usability, the interactive game slightly impacted the beliefs about the HPV vaccine over standard delivery of vaccine information, especially among those who never received the HPV vaccine. We also observed some gender-based differences in perception towards usability and the likelihood of frequently playing the game. A narrative-based game could bring positive changes to players' HPV-related health beliefs. The combination of more comprehensive HPV vaccine information with the narratives may produce a larger impact. Narrative-based games can be effectively used in other vaccine education interventions and warrant future research.