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. 2024 Dec 6:12:1454304.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1454304. eCollection 2024.

An innovation bootcamp model for developing youth-led HIV self-testing delivery strategies in Nigeria: post-designathon capacity building

Ucheoma Nwaozuru  1 , Chisom Obiezu-Umeh  2 , Kadija M Tahlil  3 , Titilola Gbaja-Biamila  4   5 , Rhonda BeLue  6 , Ifeoma Idigbe  4 , David Oladele  4   5 , Donaldson Conserve  7 , Collins Airhihenbuwa  8 , Hong Xian  9 , Adesola Z Musa  4 , Olufunto Olusanya  5 , Temitope Ojo  5 , Oliver Ezechi  4 , Joseph D Tucker  9   10 , Juliet Iwelunmor  5
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An innovation bootcamp model for developing youth-led HIV self-testing delivery strategies in Nigeria: post-designathon capacity building

Ucheoma Nwaozuru et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Introduction: Many designathons, hackathons, and similar participatory events suffer from minimal training and support after the events. Responding to this need, we organized a health innovation bootcamp: an intensive, team-based apprenticeship training with research and entrepreneurial rigor among young people in Nigeria to develop HIV self-testing (HIVST) delivery strategies for Nigerian youth. The purpose of this paper was to describe an innovation bootcamp that aimed to develop HIVST delivery strategies for Nigerian youth.

Methods: The four-week, in-person innovation bootcamp, informed by youth participatory action research and comprised a series of workshops, took place in Lagos, Nigeria. The goal was to build research and entrepreneurial capacities among young people to develop and implement HIVST strategies. A qualitative content analysis informed by an adapted World Health Organization's HIVST delivery framework explored key elements of the proposed HIVST service delivery strategies developed at the bootcamp.

Results: Twenty participants, aged 18-24 years, from five teams completed the innovation bootcamp. The five teams developed HIV service delivery strategies that included an element of repacking HIVST kits to make them more appealing to young people. Other strategies that emerged included leveraging community engagement platforms (e.g., vocational skills training and youth community events) to promote HIVST, and the use of reward-referral system to encourage HIVST uptake among young people. All strategies included ways to ensure privacy protection for recipients of the HIVST delivery package.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated the feasibility and acceptability of the health innovation bootcamp model to create HIVST designed for and led by young people. This suggests a way to build capacity after participatory events to sustain youth-led research, which could have implications for post-designathon training.

Keywords: HIV self-testing; Nigeria; co-creation; global health; innovation bootcamp; participatory action research; young people; youth engagement.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Innovation bootcamp flowchart.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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