Terms and conditions

You have been invited to participate in a free chatbot service for key population youth in Zimbabwe. This chatbot service includes basic mental wellness information as well as access to 8 sessions of the AFFIRM cognitive behavioral therapy model (A-CBT).  A-CBT is a widely researched and proven effective therapeutic approach that has been used with other key population youth. By choosing to participate, you will join a project trying to understand how our digital chatbot service can help you deal with stress, learn more about yourself, and take care of your health. We need you to help us test how our chatbot service will work with Zimbabwean key population youth.

All chatbot activities will be conducted online via WhatsApp. You will be able to access all A-CBT or other chatbot content via a basic smart phone, at any time, day, or night, that is most convenient for you.  The chatbot is an automated computer-generated service. You will not have access to any humans during the program.  

As you navigate the chatbot and the A-CBT modules, you will be asked to share and participate in different positive activities, to build your skills. This service was created to give you a chance to figure out ways to help you take care of yourself.  By joining this service, you will be able to think about problems specific to you and how to deal better with them, and to hear ideas and stories from other participants that might be experiencing similar things. Also, you will be asked to complete an online form at two separate times (today and after you have completed all the A-CBT content). Each time the form will take approximately [X] minutes to complete. 


Voluntary Participation: Participating in the chatbot service is voluntary and will not affect your membership in any organization or any other program or activity. You may choose to answer all, some, or none of the questions, and are free to leave any session and the entire program, at any time. There will be no negative consequences if you decide to leave the program. If you decide to leave the program and choose not to fill out any more online forms, you can continue to navigate and consume any or all the chatbot content. If you want to withdraw from the program (that is, no longer contribute data to our learning processes), when you are presented with the option to complete any quizzes or assessment questions in the chatbot, please select the option stating “I do not want the program to learn from my answers” instead of submitting any answers.

Confidentiality: You are not required to provide any real identifying information to the chatbot. We strongly encourage chatbot users to use a chosen name, or a fake name (a name you only use in the chatbot). We have also created features that allow you to delete your profile and all your collected data from our system entirely (by sending the word ‘forget’ to the chatbot). This feature removes all data associated with your mobile/SIM number. We have also created and included language in the chatbot that will guide you through some additional privacy and safety settings of WhatsApp to ensure your answers are protected at the highest possible level. Those options allow you to stop receiving chatbot messages from us entirely, to use 2-factor authentication, to delete chat histories, to stop automatic backups, to lock your message with a passcode, and to hide your messages in case someone unexpectedly wants to see what you are typing.

The only data we collect that could be used to identify our program users, in the unlikely event of a data breach, is your mobile/SIM numbers. At the point of capture, your number is immediately 'hashed' — meaning that it will be transformed into a different user ID number in our system, so that even our program administrators are unable to trace user activity back to a specific mobile/SIM number.


The information you share about your experiences will be used to understand more about the needs of Zimbabwean key population youth and may be used to inform our programmatic learning to improve future version of our chatbot service for future users. No names of people who use the chatbot will be published. The anonymous information you share in the group may be reviewed by our donors, individuals who are authorized to monitor or audit our program, or the Research Ethics Board (the committee that oversees all research in human subjects at the National University of Science and Technology in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe - NUST) if required by applicable laws or regulations. All the information you share with us will be kept in a secure drive on the cloud; only members of the project team will have access to the information. The information that you provide to us will not be given to or available to your parents or caregivers. 


Potential Risks: There may be some risks in addition to the time commitment. You could feel anxious, stressed out, or embarrassed as you navigate through the chatbot content and are asked to think about or discuss sensitive, difficult, or painful issues. If you begin feeling like you are going to hurt yourself or someone else, or feel like you need more support than the automated chatbot service can provide, we will provide referral links and telephone numbers to local emergency support services so that you can receive in-person support services via key population experts, local hospitals or other health settings to receive medical intervention and/or make sure you are cared for and safe. People who choose to access emergency in-person care, will still be able to continue to use the chatbot. When using the chatbot service, or accessing emergency in-person care, you are only expected to discuss what you are comfortable with. You never have to share anything you don’t want to. 

Potential Benefits: There are many benefits you can receive by participating in this program. You will be taught some new ways to make changes in your life through exploring problems specific to you by learning coping and problem-solving skills using role-playing and rehearsal, as well as other fun activities. Through sharing with the chatbot and reading others’ responses you will have the opportunity to see that others are dealing with similar issues and in this way, know that you are not alone and are supported. This program will likely be the first of its kind available for Zimbabwean key population youth and your insights into the usefulness of this service will help to develop better services and outcomes for other Zimbabwean key population youth, like you, in the future.  

Costs/Compensation: While there is no cost for you to access the chatbot or join this service, participants will be using data bundles as they use WhatsApp, so some small costs may be incurred while participating in this program. 

Institutional Review Board Approval:  This research has been reviewed and approved by the Research Ethics Board of the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe (Ref#). If you have any questions, concerns, or comments about your rights as a participant, please contact the Office of Research Ethics at NUST Research Ethics Office, P.O. Box 939, Corner Gwanda Road and Cecil Avenue, Ascot, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, nustirb@nust.ac.zw, +263 292 282842.

Dr. Wilfred Njabulo Nunu, will be supporting the research coordinator and co-investigator, Dena Batrice, MSW. Dr. Nunu is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Science/Environmental Health at NUST. 

Contact Person:  If you have any questions at any time about this program, or want to discuss any challenges or thoughts about the chatbot service, please contact the Research Coordinator [Dena Batrice] (youthaffirm@gmail.com) or the Principal Investigator: 

Dr. Wilfred Njabulo Nunu

Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Science/Environmental Health, National University of Science and Technology. 

Email address: wilfred.nunu@nust.ac.zw  

Phone: +263772984539/ +263713083081


Consent:  


By signing this form, you agree that:


1) We have explained this program and have answered all your questions at this time. 

2) We have explained the possible harms and benefits of this service.

3) You understand that your participation in the program is voluntary and that you have the right to stop at any time. 

4) You are free now, and in the future, to ask questions about the program.

5) You have been told that your information will be kept private except as described above.  

6) You understand that no information about who you are will be given to anyone or be published without first asking your permission. 

7) You agree, or consent, to taking part in this service.

8) You consent to the use and analysis of data and information from forms and assessments in the program.


Do you feel like you need help right now?


If so, we suggest you contact:


Kids Help Phone (http://www.kidshelpphone.ca)

Youthline (www.youthline.ca)


Chatbot Participant 


  1. Name:


  1. I Consent To Participate: 

I Agree to Participate 

I Do Not Agree to Participate