Open Call for Young People to promote Health and Well-Being

Deadline: 31-Jul-23

‘Game-changers’ can come from anywhere, and HIV through this open call, the Social Entrepreneurship to Spur Health (SESH) invites young people to find new ways to promote adolescent health and well-being in communities most affected by HIV.

The Social Entrepreneurship to Spur Health encourages submissions that think beyond medical or mental health. While these are important, they also want to hear ideas and innovations that focus on the complex web of factors that predict well-being more broadly. One way to think about this is to consider all the things that are important for adolescents and young people to feel healthier, stronger, safer and more positive about their overall lives and their futures.

Although they welcome the opportunity to see all ideas submitted, those with the greatest chance of being selected for further review and possible prizes are those that are ‘actionable’. This means that there are steps and actions that can be taken now (or soon) toward moving the idea or ideas forward. For this open call, they seek actionable solutions that address the two challenge questions:

• How might they totally and fundamentally reimagine organizing the healthcare systems and societies to support adolescent health and well-being in countries that have a high burden of HIV?
• How might they develop solutions that can support and strengthen adolescent health and well-being in the future, taking into account current and possible threats such as conflict and pandemics and current trends like climate change, rising inequality, migration, urbanization and digitalization?

Categories

• Digital and social innovations for health
  • For example, ideas and innovations could address one or more of the following:
    • Overlapping epidemics (Syndemics), for example, the syndemics of mental health and HIV, violence and poor mental health, COVID-19 and HIV.
    • Co-infections of HIV including TB, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Cryptococcus, and others.
    • Co-morbidities of HIV and chronic non-communicable conditions, for example, obesity, mental health, sickle cell anaemia and others.
    • Addressing the impact of pandemic threats on community and/or population health.
• Digital and social innovations that promote adolescent-centred processes, systems and policies
  • Eligible Ideas and innovation would address:
    • Skills for future employment and preparation for the world of work, including health.
    • Self-care models, approaches and tools for disease prevention, treatment and management.
    • Models of health citizenship that might help them to refine and redefine the rights, entitlements, and obligations agreed upon between adolescent citizens and the State at all levels.
    • Private-public partnerships, joint ventures, and other offerings that might be more responsive to the values and preferences of adolescents.
    • Data Innovations.
    • Planning, coordination and management innovations that transform the way structures and institutions are organized and resourced to improve patient and community health.
    • ‘De-implementation’ to end a programme or policy that does not work, or which is a barrier to achieving better health outcomes.
• Social and behavioural innovations
  • Eligible Ideas and innovations would address:
    • Restrictions based on ‘social norms’ including traditions, faith, beliefs and similar frameworks.
    • Rumours, myths, biases, misinformation and disinformation that might limit the ability or willingness of people to use important health tools.
    • Family and community influence.
    • Solutions based on the power and influence of peers and peer networks to affirm and support improved health attitudes and behaviours.
    • Solutions that use triggers, nudges, cues, reminders, incentives and similar behavioural methods to promote and sustain healthful behaviours.
    • Innovative approaches that increase the impact, reach, spread, engagement and widespread adoption of campaigns or messaging that seek to enhance health-related behaviours or perceptions, particularly among adolescents.
    • New or different ways to share health knowledge and other health promotion efforts that reach adolescents more extensively, including hidden, invisible and marginalised groups.

Prize Details

• Prizes will be awarded to the Winner and runner-up in each of the categories. The first prize will be $1500, while the runner-up will receive $500.
• Winners will be invited to present their idea or innovation at the Global Forum for Adolescents.
• All people who submit eligible submissions will be invited to social innovation training workshops on building capacity for social innovation monitoring and evaluation, crowdfunding, and related competencies.

Geography Focus

• They recognize that many innovations and ideas can be ‘game-changers’ everywhere, or almost everywhere. However, for this open call, they are specifically interested in ideas that are relevant to the cultures, societies and key HIV trends and risks in the following countries: Brazil, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Philippines, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
• Despite this focus, people everywhere are invited to apply. You do not need to be a citizen of one of these countries, or living in one of them, to participate.

Eligibility Criteria

• Adolescents aged 10–19 years can submit ideas on their own or as part of a team.  If you are older than 19 years, you cannot submit on your own, but you are welcome to participate as a member of a team.
• Team submissions are encouraged! Each team must include at least one adolescent who is aged 10–19 years, and the team leader should not be older than 30 years.
• Only one submission is allowed for each category. If submitting as a team, the team leader should submit on behalf of the team.
• Submissions in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian.
• Submissions must be the original work of the participant or the participant’s team. Participants must not knowingly infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate any intellectual property rights, privacy rights, or any other rights of any person or entity in the performance of work.
• Note: The organising committee might request further information from you or your team about your idea or innovation after you submits it.

For more information, visit SESH.