YAQIN: Culturally Sensitive, Agentic AI for Mental Healthcare Support Among Muslim Women in the UK

Abstract

Mental healthcare services in the UK lack tools and resources to address the cultural needs of Muslim women, often leaving them feeling as though their values are pathologised and limiting trust and engagement [1]. Despite growing awareness of cultural competency, few interventions integrate Islamic frameworks into therapeutic support. This report investigates the design and evaluation of YAQIN, a co-designed AI-based application supporting culturally and faith-sensitive mental health engagement for Muslim women. With almost 1.9 million Muslim women in England in 2021, YAQIN responds to a gap in care [2]. It leverages AIś anonymity and continuous support through a faith-aware chatbot and guided journaling tool grounded in user-centred design and Islamic psychology. The YAQIN design research methodology comprised three stages: contextual investigation and literature review, user research with N=14 stakeholders including Muslim women and mental health experts, and prototype development informed by deductive thematic analysis, personas, journey maps, and design specifications. Evaluation involved a co-designed user study with five participants: four Muslim women and one mental health expert who reviewed therapeutic alignment and cultural sensitivity after using the chatbot prototype. Feedback focused on tone, faith relevance, emotional resonance, and the Retrieval-Augmented Generation pipeline enabling contextual continuity. Participants highlighted YAQINś ability to bridge cultural gaps in trust and therapeutic confidence. Feedback included suggestions of including linguistic diversity and routine-based guidance. This project demonstrates how culturally sensitive AI can improve mental healthcare accessibility and trust for marginalised communities and highlights the potential of faith-integrated technology in healthcare innovation.