A Digital Integration Platform with AI-Driven Wellbeing Support for Migrants in the UK

1. Introduction

Migration is a life-changing process that often brings both opportunities and challenges. While much focus is placed on legal status, housing, and employment, many migrants face additional barriers in cultural adaptation, access to reliable information, and emotional wellbeing during settlement. Research has shown that these factors significantly influence a migrant’s ability to thrive economically and socially (OECD, 2020).

Digital technology offers new opportunities to bridge these gaps. AI-powered conversational systems (chatbots) have been deployed in customer service, healthcare, and education to provide round-the-clock information and support. When designed with cultural sensitivity and integrated into broader service delivery, such tools can empower migrants to navigate their new environment with greater confidence while receiving personalised emotional support.

This research proposes the design and evaluation of a Digital Integration Platform combining practical settlement resources (housing, employment, healthcare, language learning, community networks) with an AI-driven wellbeing assistant. The aim is to create a holistic, scalable, and user-centred solution that can enhance the integration experience for migrants in the UK and serve as a replicable model for global migration contexts.

2. Background and Rationale

2.1 Migrant Integration Challenges

The UK is home to over 9.6 million foreign-born residents (ONS, 2023), many of whom face difficulties accessing coordinated integration support. Services are often fragmented — government portals provide administrative information, NGOs focus on specific legal or social needs, and mental health services tend to overlook cultural and language differences. This can lead to confusion, isolation, and underutilisation of available resources.

2.2 AI and Digital Support

AI chatbots are increasingly recognised for their ability to provide instant, accessible, and personalised support (Klopfenstein et al., 2017). In non-clinical wellbeing contexts, chatbots can help users reduce stress, encourage positive habits, and connect them to relevant resources without replacing professional intervention (Inkster et al., 2018).

Integrating a chatbot into a broader migrant support platform could streamline access to trusted information, provide emotional reassurance, and foster digital inclusion — aligning with UK integration policy priorities and UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities).

2.3 Alignment with Professional Experience

With a background in Engineering, a Postgraduate Diploma in IT, and over a decade leading digital transformation, mental health advocacy, and community empowerment projects across Nigeria and the UK, I have the technical, managerial, and social insight needed to execute this research. My work in government digital platforms, digital entrepreneurship, and mental health support equips me to design solutions that are technologically sound, socially sensitive, and organisationally sustainable.

3. Research Aim and Objectives

Aim:

To design and evaluate a digital integration platform with embedded AI wellbeing support for migrants in the UK, enhancing both practical adaptation and emotional resilience.

Objectives:

1. To critically review literature on migrant integration frameworks, digital inclusion, and AI-based wellbeing tools.

2. To identify settlement and emotional wellbeing needs of migrants through qualitative research.

3. To design a prototype digital platform integrating migrant services with an AI chatbot for culturally sensitive support.

4. To evaluate the platform’s usability, accessibility, and perceived impact on migrant integration outcomes.

4. Literature Review

Migration research highlights that integration is a multidimensional process involving legal, economic, social, and cultural participation (Ager & Strang, 2008). Digital tools are increasingly seen as enablers for integration (Dekker & Engbersen, 2014), particularly in providing accessible information and fostering social networks.

Chatbots have demonstrated positive impacts in improving user engagement and service accessibility in health, education, and customer service sectors (Brandtzaeg & Følstad, 2018). AI-powered wellbeing assistants, such as Woebot and Wysa, have shown potential for non-clinical emotional support through empathetic, conversational interaction (Fitzpatrick et al., 2017).

However, research at the intersection of migrant integration platforms and AI-based wellbeing support remains limited, presenting an opportunity for innovation.

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5. Research Gap

While there are individual digital tools addressing migrant information needs and separate wellbeing-focused chatbots, there is no integrated, culturally adapted digital platform combining both functions specifically for migrants in the UK. This gap limits the potential for holistic, one-stop solutions that could improve both the practical and emotional aspects of integration.

6. Research Questions

1. What are the key settlement and emotional wellbeing needs of migrants in the UK?

2. How can a digital platform integrate practical migrant services with culturally sensitive AI wellbeing support?

3. What factors influence user acceptance and perceived value of such a platform?

4. How can the platform be designed for scalability and replication in other migration contexts?

7. Methodology

7.1 Literature Review

A comprehensive review of academic and grey literature on migrant integration, digital inclusion, chatbot technology, and wellbeing support.

7.2 Needs Assessment

Semi-structured interviews and focus groups with migrants, community leaders, and service providers to identify user needs and cultural considerations.

7.3 Prototype Development

Using agile methods and no-code/low-code platforms to create a functional prototype integrating an AI chatbot with practical migrant resources.

7.4 Usability Testing

Pilot testing with migrant users, employing the System Usability Scale (SUS) and thematic analysis of feedback to evaluate usability, accessibility, and perceived impact.

8. Significance of the Study

This research will:

Provide a replicable digital integration model combining practical and emotional support for migrants.

Contribute to policy and practice in migration management, digital transformation, and social innovation.

Align with SDGs and UK policy goals on integration and social cohesion.

Enhance the academic understanding of AI applications in human-centred service design.

9. Timeline

Task Duration

Literature Review 3 months

Needs Assessment 2 months

Prototype Development 3 months

Usability Testing & Analysis 2 months

Writing & Submission 2 months

10. References

Ager, A., & Strang, A. (2008). Understanding integration: A conceptual framework. Journal of Refugee Studies, 21(2), 166–191.

Brandtzaeg, P. B., & Følstad, A. (2018). Chatbots: Changing user needs and motivations. Computers in Human Behavior, 97, 346–353.

Dekker, R., & Engbersen, G. (2014). How social media transform migrant networks and facilitate migration. Global Networks, 14(4), 401–418.

Fitzpatrick, K. K., Darcy, A., & Vierhile, M. (2017). Delivering cognitive behavioral therapy to young adults with symptoms of depression and anxiety using a fully automated conversational agent (Woebot). JMIR Mental Health, 4(2), e19.

Inkster, B., et al. (2018). Emulating human listening in conversational agents: A review of non-clinical applications for mental wellbeing. Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence, 1, 6.

Klopfenstein, L. C., et al. (2017). The rise of bots: A survey of conversational interfaces. Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 555–565.

OECD. (2020). Indicators of Immigrant Integration.