Sharing Student Projects

When young people in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) learn about sex, love and health through stories and games on their phones and other screens, what actually changes in their lives—and what still holds them back? In this region, HIV, child marriage, unintended pregnancy and other sexually transmitted infections cast a heavy shadow over young people’s health and futures. Because traditional school-based sexuality education often struggles with cultural taboos and underprepared teachers, this dissertation explores an alternative—entertainment-focused digital tools used to deliver sexuality education—and asks whether they can help break the silence and save lives. I used a literature review approach, searching five major databases, including Web of Science and PubMed, and found only 14 eligible empirical studies on five digital edutainment projects for young people aged 10–24 in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana and South Africa. Together, these studies cover computer and smartphone games, school-based gamified programmes, SMS tools and a popular TV drama series. The small number of studies shows how little research currently exists in this area, despite the promising potential that digital edutainment has already shown. Across these different formats, one pattern was clear: digital edutainment works well for the first steps. Young people who engaged with these tools usually knew more about sexual health afterwards, felt more confident, and often reported stronger intentions to make safer and more informed choices. Games allowed adolescents to rehearse difficult choices in a safe, fictional world; mass-media drama helped challenge stigma and spark conversations; and text messages turned everyday phone use into gentle reminders that support clinic attendance and sticking with treatment. To understand how and why these tools worked—and why early positive changes did not always turn into lasting behaviour change—I drew on the COM-B model from the Behaviour Change Wheel. It breaks behaviour into three elements: Capability (having the knowledge and skills to act), Opportunity (having the external resources and support to act) and Motivation (wanting and intending to act). Viewed through this lens, the five projects were strongest at boosting Capability and Motivation: they helped young people understand risks, practise communication and refusal skills, and imagine more hopeful futures. Some interventions opened up parts of Opportunity by linking young people more directly to services or softening social norms. Yet when we look beyond the study settings to the wider population, the Opportunity side—access to devices and data, and youth-friendly clinics—remains uneven. Where these external conditions were fragile or missing, early gains tended to fade, and good intentions did not always turn into lasting behaviour change. These findings point to a clear conclusion: digital edutainment is a powerful seed, but it needs the right soil. Future designs must be rooted in local cultures and tuned to the different needs of younger adolescents and older youth. Most importantly, digital tools cannot work alone. They need to be woven together with offline health services, family conversations and school curricula, so that virtual victories on a screen can translate into healthier lives in the real world.

My dissertation makes a contribution by consolidating scattered evidence into actionable insights, filling a gap in a field where few reviews have focused specifically on digital edutainment for young people’s sexual health in SSA. It is more than just a summary of past projects; it offers educational technology designers and policymakers an evidence-based strategic blueprint for moving from isolated digital products to a more sustainable, healthier ecosystem. For programme designers and educators, the review shows that different formats serve different purposes. High-interactivity games are especially effective for practising skills; mass-media series are powerful for shifting norms; and low-tech tools like SMS are crucial for ongoing support and inclusion. By framing these options as parts of a hybrid ecosystem, the dissertation offers a practical way to match each tool to the right task and to the specific COM-B needs (Capability, Opportunity, Motivation) of different groups of young people. For policymakers and funders, the review highlights trade-offs that are often glossed over in optimistic project reports. It shows how interventions can unintentionally widen inequalities, and why investments in infrastructure, youth-friendly services and affordability measures are just as important as funding content production. This can support more responsible funding decisions and help avoid well-intentioned projects that primarily benefit those already privileged. The impact of the dissertation extends beyond the specific studies reviewed: it provides a shared perspective for stakeholders to work together on transforming digital engagement into safer, fairer futures for young people.