About the Game
Crossroads is a choice-based narrative game about peer pressure and vaping, where every decision a player makes moves their story forward. It builds the same skills at the heart of the CRoME Lab's vaping prevention research: recognizing pressure, weighing choices, and seeing how those choices play out over time.
Crossroads was co-designed with high school students who attended the 2026 4-H Teen Conference (June 3–4, 2026). We surveyed those students about the kind of game they wanted to play, and used their input to shape the characters, scenarios, and choices. The game was then produced using AI tools — including Claude Design, Claude Code, and Microsoft Copilot — guided at every step by our team and the students' ideas.
Research Background
Why this matters
E-cigarette use among adolescents has become a significant public health concern, with many young people exposed to the risks of vaping without fully understanding the potential consequences. Crossroads grows out of the CRoME Lab's ongoing research on vaping prevention education for adolescents and their families, which addresses the growing need for accessible, evidence-based vaping education.
Our research foundation
Our work in this area is grounded in the Pharmacist-Led E-cigarette and Vaping Educational Resource (Ph-EVER). The Ph-EVER consists of two infographics, with one tailored towards adolescents (Teen E-cigarette and Vaping Educational Resource; T-EVER) and the other tailored towards parents (Parent E-cigarette and Vaping Educational Resource; P-EVER). These resources were developed and evaluated together with adolescents, parents, pharmacists, and community partners, ensuring that our work is informed by real-world perspectives and community needs.
What we hope to achieve
Our goal is to educate adolescents and their families about the risks associated with e-cigarettes and vaping, and to empower them to make informed decisions. By playing Crossroads, we hope young people will learn how to recognize the dangers of vaping and develop skills to resist peer pressure. Through interactive tools like this one, we aim to facilitate meaningful parent-child conversations about e-cigarette safety and promote healthier choices for the whole family.
Publications
- Abraham O, Quach V, Li JS. Parent perspectives on a pharmacist-disseminated vaping educational tool for vaping prevention. Exploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy. 2025;19:100615. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcsop.2025.100615
- Maday E, Brekke A, Li J, Abraham O. Pharmacists' Perspectives on Providing Educational Intervention to Address E-Cigarette Use and Vaping among Adolescents and Their Parents. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association. Published online March 24, 2025:102392. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japh.2025.102392
- Abraham O, Matulle MJ, Li JS, Thao S, Maday E, Zhao Q. Stakeholder perspectives of tobacco use on campus and implementation of a tobacco-free policy at a Midwest university. Tobacco Prevention & Cessation. 2025;11(February):12. https://doi.org/10.18332/tpc/199932
- Abraham O, Paulsen Z, Slonac E, Li J. Parent perspectives on the design, implementation, and use of the parent E-cigarette and vaping educational resource (P-EVER). Exploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy. 2024;16:100532. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcsop.2024.100532
- Klubertanz GC, Matulle MJ, Li JS, Abraham O. Adolescent Perspectives on the Pharmacy-Based T-EVER (Teen E-Cigarette and Vaping Educational Resource) and Its Potential Impact on Youth Vaping. Pharmacy. 2024;12(4):101. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy12040101
Contact
If you have questions about this research, please contact the Principal Investigator, Dr. Olufunmilola Abraham by email: Olufunmilola.Abraham@uky.edu.
If you have questions about the CRoME Lab, our studies, becoming a participant, or want to join the team, please contact the Research Coordinator by email: crome.lab@uky.edu.
The CRoME Lab's mission is to develop, implement, and disseminate novel methods for improving medication safety and health behaviors for vulnerable and underserved populations, while training the next generation of researchers. Projects within the CRoME research core share the common goal of applying community-engaged, collaborative, and transdisciplinary approaches to improving medication use and health outcomes for families through education, prevention, and intervention programs. For more information, please visit our website: https://pharmacy.uky.edu/crome/
Funding Support
Funding information for Crossroads will be updated soon. For more details about the CRoME Lab's research funding and support, please visit the CRoME Lab website.