Peer Health Exchange Launches AI Platform to Support Youth Wellbeing
19 Junio 2024 - 8:59AM
Peer Health Exchange (PHE) is launching an interactive
Conversational AI Platform (CAP) on its digital health platform
selfsea.org. The CAP is designed to provide young people with
immediate guidance towards high quality youth-approved health
resources 24/7 when human support isn’t available.
Peer Health Exchange’s
Youth Design Group (YDG) first introduced the idea of using AI on
selfsea.org. The YDG is a cohort of young people (aged 13-18) who
collaborate on selfsea’s development: offering advice,
recommendations, and final approval for new resources and content
since the digital platform was launched in 2021.
“We provided input on the
topics that should be addressed by the Conversational AI tool. We
also identified information or words that could be triggering or
harmful, ensuring the resource to be supportive and sensitive to
users' needs.” said YDG member Richa Viswanath, 17. Mei Lin, 18,
another YDG member, added, “I thought it was a really cool
experience, and a unique way to learn more about digital safety and
AI.” The YDG worked alongside PHE Staff and Intuist.ai, an AI
software company committed to working in the non-profit sector, to
develop the new feature. PHE is using Intuist proprietary
technology to ensure that only validated and evidence-based content
was used to train the CAP to deliver trusted information.
PHE designed the CAP to
be bright, youthful, and accessible. Its tone ranges from energetic
to compassionate, based on the input subject matter. The tool is
trained to sift through the hundreds of available health resources
on selfsea, and to guide users to the most pertinent one(s), using
youth-appropriate responses. It is also available in
Spanish.
According to a recent
survey, 66% of nonprofits are using AI tools. AI technology can
help improve the quality of nonprofit services, save time and
reduce costs, while also gaining a better understanding of their
user experiences. “We’re still exploring its full capabilities and
limitations, with a keen focus on ensuring youth safety. We’ll
closely monitor analytics and gather feedback from young users as
we roll-out this new feature,” said Chris Wilson, AVP of Digital
Impact at Peer Health Exchange.
CEO Dr. Angela Glymph
added, “We are committed to continuously listening to young people,
and to adapting our tools to better serve young people’s health
needs. Our approach is deeply collaborative, ensuring that youth
voices are not just heard, but are integral to the shaping of our
services.”
About Peer Health
Exchange Peer Health Exchange’s (PHE) mission is to build
healthier communities with young people. Together, we create
education opportunities for peers to share the tools and resources
young people need to make healthy decisions. With our partners, we
advance health equity and improve health outcomes for young people
in under-resourced communities. For safe, relatable, inclusive, and
engaging content on mental health, relationships, identity, and
sexual health, follow Peer Health Exchange on Tik Tok, Facebook,
Instagram, and X.
About
selfsea selfsea, powered by Peer Health Exchange and
co-designed with young people, reaches over 500,000 young people
with safe, inclusive, evidence-based, and identity-affirming health
resources and information. It’s a platform where young people can
see themselves reflected in content that prioritizes their
identities and experiences about mental health, sexual health, and
beyond.
Haley Lloyd
Peer Health Exchange
3018255338
hlloyd@peerhealthexchange.org