Towards a customised AI-driven chatbot for undocumented people

Background
Access to health is a fundamental human right, as articulated in the World Health Organisation statutes, which implies that individuals are entitled to necessary health services irrespective of their social, economic, or political status. Although policy documents extensively delineate the entitlement to healthcare, practical challenges hinder access to health services. Undocumented migrant communities, historically marginalised and discriminated against, face pronounced difficulties in obtaining healthcare despite experiencing disproportionate health issues. Information asymmetry regarding the rights of undocumented individuals and their management, especially within hospital gatekeeping, exacerbates the problem. While tools like the Amsterdam City Rights app exist to provide information on rights and options for undocumented people, they fall short of fully addressing their needs. The challenges faced by this population epitomise wicked problems, characterised by intricate, interconnected issues subject to real-world constraints that impede risk-free solutions.

Objectives
The objective of the project is to enhance understanding of the specific healthcare access needs of undocumented individuals and assess the potential efficacy of a personalised recommendation system in addressing those needs. The project commences with an exploration of strategies to address the obstacles faced by undocumented individuals in accessing healthcare and it will go further to examine the viability of AI-driven chatbot interfaces to customise and deliver information tailored to the unique circumstances of individuals.

Approach
The project will apply ethnographic methods namely interviews, field observations, and focus group discussions to get first-hand information about the situation on the ground. Once the real problem has been identified, a workable solution will be developed.  This will involve coming up with an inventory of existing approaches of tailoring information via a chatbot interface, and implementing the findings from design thinking workshops into a prototype of a health app that will be instrumental in ensuring that undocumented people get access to healthcare.

Athena’s role
Athena will take a leading role in understanding the problems faced by undocumented people in accessing healthcare. This will involve capitalising on the strength of Athena Institute in engaging stakeholders through various tools.