Participatory Action Research Meets Gamification: Raising Awareness on Vulvar and Pelvic Chronic Pain Through Play

This case study explores the V-Days project (“Vulvar Dialogues about Youth and Sexuality”), an action-research initiative developed at the University of Turin to address the often-overlooked topic of pelvic-vulvar pain. Aimed at both young people and the general public, the project used participatory and gamified methods—such as custom-designed board games—to engage diverse audiences in conversations about sexual health and vulvodynia. The study highlights the challenges of researching stigmatized topics, working across disciplines, and cocreating tools with community members, students, and patient advocacy groups. By reading this case study, students will gain practical insight into how methodologies like action research, citizen science, and gamification can be applied to real-world social issues. It provides concrete examples of how to design research tools collaboratively, adapt to diverse audiences, and navigate ethical and logistical complexities in public engagement. This case will be especially useful to students interested in participatory methods, feminist research, health communication, and educational design. It offers a grounded model for conducting research that is both methodologically rigorous and socially impactful.