The AIDS epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa continues to affect all facets of life throughout the subcontinent. Deaths related to AIDS have driven down the life expectancy rate of residents in Zambia, Kenya, and Uganda with far-reaching implications. This book details the current state of the AIDS epidemic in Africa and what is known about the behaviors that contribute to the transmission of the HIV infection. It lays out what research is needed and what is necessary to design more effective prevention programs.

This book constitutes the refereed post-conference proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Persuasive Technology, PERSUASIVE 2021, held as a virtual event, in April 2021. The 17 full papers presented in this book together with 8 short papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 67 submissions. The papers are grouped in topical sections as follows: persuasive affective technology; digital marketing, ecommerce, etourism and smart ecosystems; and persuasion and education.

Ruth Gwandure earned her master of science degree in medicine (bioethics and law) from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. Her research and consulting fields include bioethics, health law, environmental bioethics, research ethics, HIV and AIDS, ethics and law, clinical ethics, and HIV counselling and testing in schools. Calvin Gwandure has a PhD in psychology. He graduated from Nelson Mandela University, South Africa. His research and consulting fields include HIV and AIDS prevention, new HIV prevention technologies, HIV risk behavior, and group behavior. Clinical trials on HIV and AIDS prevention face challenges associated with infection of participants with HIV and sexually transmitted infections. Participants also experience adverse events associated with voluntary medical male circumcision and the use of microbicides and vaccines in clinical trials. The results obtained from clinical trials investigating the efficacy of microbicides and vaccines in preventing HIV infection are disappointing, but there is hope that one day a breakthrough could be made. Clinical trials on voluntary medical male circumcision and preexposure prophylaxis have shown positive results that warranted approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The major challenge experienced in new HIV prevention clinical trials that are underway and in approved interventions that are being scaled up apparently relates to HIV incidence that threatens the social value and scientific validity of the interventions. Paradoxically, the clinical trials and scale-up interventions have become the new sources of HIV infection although the hypothesized benefit to be realized in the end is conceptualized as outweighing the current risks involved.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Persuasive Technology, PERSUASIVE 2023, held in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, April 19–21, 2023. The 24 full papers and 2 short papers included in this book were carefully reviewed and selected from 69 submissions. They were organized in topical sections as follows: Persuasive Technologies in Virtual and Augmented Reality; Persuasive Strategies; Persuasive Design and Applications; Methods for Tailoring and Personalisation; Artificial Persuasive Agents; Gamification; and Personal Factors in Persuasion.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Persuasive Technology, PERSUASIVE 2018, held in Waterloo, ON, Canada, in April 2018. The 21 revised full papers and 4 short papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 59 submissions. The papers demonstrate how persuasive technologies can help solve societal issues. They explore new frontiers for persuasive technology, such as personalized persuasion, new sensor usage, uses of big data, and new ways of creating engagement through gaming or social connection, focusing on a variety of technologies (e.g., web, wearables, AI, and smart environments). The papers are organized in the following topical sections: social means to persuasion; nudging and just-in-time interventions; design principles and practices; persuasive games; personalization and tailoring; and theoretical reflections.

This book constitutes the proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Persuasive Technology, PERSUASIVE 2010, held in Copenhagen Denmark in June 2010. The 25 papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 80 submissions. In addition three keynote papers are included in this volume. The topics covered are emotions and user experience, ambient persuasive systems, persuasive design, persuasion profiles, designing for health, psychology of persuasion, embodied and conversational agents, economic incentives, and future directions for persuasive technology.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Third International Conference on Persuasive Technology, PERSUASIVE 2008, held in Oulu, Finland, in June 2008. The 17 revised full papers and 12 revised short papers presented together with 3 keynote papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 63 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on social network systems, knowledge management, applications, conceptual frameworks, perspectives on persuasive technology, peer-to-peer and social networks, self-persuasion and timing, well-being applications, and theoretical considerations.