What is the name of your organization?
Playbl
What is the name of your solution?
SmokeSCREEN
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
SmokeSCREEN is an evidence-based video game intervention developed at Yale School of Medicine proven to prevent youth vaping
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
New Haven, CT, USA
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
USA
What type of organization is your solution team?
For-profit, including B-Corp or similar models
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
Youth vaping has emerged as a major public health concern, with e-cigarettes now the most commonly used tobacco product among U.S. middle and high school students. Over 1.2 million high schoolers (8–11%) and 410,000 middle schoolers (3–3.5%) report current use (55m globally), and more than 26% of those who vape say they do so daily. E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that heat a liquid into an aerosol inhaled into the lungs. This vapor contains harmful substances including nicotine, flavor chemicals (some linked to lung disease), propylene glycol, heavy metals, and other toxins. While long-term impacts are still being studied, nicotine use during adolescence is known to be especially dangerous. It is highly addictive and can impair brain development, especially in areas tied to learning, memory, and impulse control. It also increases the risk of chronic illness, mental health issues, and future drug addiction. Given these risks—and the presence of other harmful chemicals in vape products—there is growing demand for effective interventions to prevent and reduce youth vaping. Yet scalable, age-appropriate solutions remain scarce. Addressing this epidemic requires accessible, evidence-based prevention and cessation strategies tailored to young people’s unique needs and behaviors.
What is your solution?
Playbl offers evidence-based, scalable solutions to epidemic-level behavioral health issues impacting youth. Playbl has an exclusive licensing relationship with research partner, the play2PREVENT Lab at Dartmouth College's Geisel School of Medicine, and its portfolio of five NIH-funded, evidence-based, highly engaging, and rigorously tested educational (“serious”) games that have helped youth ages 10–19 to become better decision-makers and agents in their own health promotion, wellness, and risk prevention. One of these web-mobile video games, smokeSCREEN, arms youth with strong decision-making skills specifically around smoking and vaping and includes strategies for both prevention and cessation. An overview of SmokeSCREEN is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w7VOUXHO2s
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Our solution serves youth-facing organizations including schools, community health & prevention organizations, after-school programs and community centers, hospitals, and mental health clinics. We are targeting youth ages 10-15 with SmokeSCREEN to prevent vaping initiation which peaks in 8th grade and escalates through the high school years.