Grant: Canada Postdoctoral Research Award (CPRA) program

Despite progress in HIV prevention globally, young women in Ghana aged 15-24 continue to face alarmingly high rates of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), driven by stigma, fear of judgement, low knowledge, low motivation, and poor access to youth-friendly prevention services. This project will co-create and test an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot - MARVIN-HYPE (Harnessing AI for Young women HIV/STI Prevention and Education) - designed to empower young women with private, stigma-free education, motivation, and linkage to HIV/STI prevention services such as condoms, testing, and PrEP, as well as HIV care. Using a participatory approach, we will work together with young women and key stakeholders to design a chatbot that is culturally appropriate, trustworthy, and youth-friendly. This adaptation will build on MARVIN, an existing AI-chatbot used in Canada for HIV care. In the first 18 months of the project, focus groups and interviews with young women will explore barriers to prevention and desired chatbot features, followed by iterative co-design workshops and expert review. In the next 18 months, we will pilot MARVIN-HYPE with young women to assess its usability, acceptability, and relevant for the Ghanaian context, as well as assess the self-reported uptake of any HIV/STI prevention and care method. MARVIN-HYPE aims to give young women an accessible and judgment-free space to build knowledge, confidence, and agency in managing their sexual health, while linking them to nearby services when needed. If successful, this tool could transform how HIV/STI prevention messaging and stigma reduction interventions reach vulnerable young women, and be scaled across Ghana and similar settings.